The Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau (GLCVB) is responsible for marketing the region as a travel destination in order to positively impact the area’s economy. The GLCVB retained Anderson Economic Group to analyze the region’s tourism sector and to determine the economic benefits that tourism brings to the area for 2018. AEG previously conducted this analysis in 2013 and 2016.
To complete our analysis, we collected 2014 and 2018 data from GLCVB staff on events that took place in the Greater Lansing region, as well as data on hotel room occupancy and average room rates. We also gathered 2014-2018 data from the State of Michigan on tourism trends in the state, as well as visitor spending trends by county. Next, we estimated the total visitors, visitor days, and spending attributable to visitors in the Greater Lansing region in 2018 based on tourist survey data from 2012 and 2014, as well as state and local trends during 2014 through 2018. Using these data and region-specific multipliers from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, we estimated the net economic impact of tourism in Greater Lansing in terms of jobs, earnings, and output in 2018.
We found that the Greater Lansing region attracted about 5.3 million visitors. Tourists spent $682 million at local businesses, and $490 was taxable under Michigan’s sales and use tax, which contributed $29 million to the state’s sales tax revenue. Multiplier effects resulted in more than $1.1 billion in regional economic impact, and $288 million in additional income and earnings for workers in Greater Lansing in 2018. Our findings, along with highlights of tourism attractions and activities in the area, were summarized in a report and shared with the GLCVB. The GLCVB released a portion of the findings in a press release on October 30, 2019.