The Power of Tourism

Tourism fuels the local economy, employs residents, generates revenue, provides human services housing resources and supports local arts programs. Keep reading to learn about the impact Experience Columbus has on the community and to learn about what we do as the destination marketing organization for the Columbus region, dedicated to growing visitor spending and enhancing the visitor experience.

FUELS THE ECONOMY

Greater Columbus welcomes 42.7 million visitors each year. Those visitors provide $6.6 billion in direct spend to local businesses.

GENERATES REVENUE

The local tourism industry generates revenue for vital city and county needs, and local, state and federal tax revenue generated by visitors to Franklin County is estimated to be $1.24 billion.
These funds go to local human services, economic development and the arts.
$147 million in city tax revenue is generated by the tourism industry, saving each Franklin County household $1,387* per year.

CREATES RETURN ON INVESTMENT

Bed tax collections bring in $33.4 million and benefit a range of community organizations, including Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies and:

The top five industry sectors that benefit from visitor spending:

What We Do

We are a destination marketing organization, sometimes referred to as a convention and visitor bureau. We hire people from a variety of backgrounds: hospitality, the arts, tour operations, communications, marketing, finance, account management and customer service, just to name a few.

CONVENTION SALES

The Convention Sales group sells Columbus as a convention, meeting and trade show destination to statewide and national audiences. The team collaborates with other hospitality industry professionals to produce bids to host meetings and conventions in Columbus.

MARKETING

This department supports the promotion of leisure, meetings and conventions, and sports tourism market segments through strategic marketing, public relations, digital and social tactics. They are engaged in many efforts that continue to raise the profile of Columbus as a vibrant, open, and world-class city.

PARTNERSHIPS

This team handles all sales, promotional services and retention of our 900+ partners, representing a variety of industries and businesses. This curation and promotion of some of the best retail, restaurant, lodging and event businesses provides a resource that showcases the city's unique culture.

DESTINATION EXPERIENCE

This team partners within the community and industry to create memorable experiences for visitors and residents alike. This includes creation of experiential trails, education and awareness of the Columbus scene, and providing assistance and support during conventions through promotion, event management, volunteer programs, visitor and welcome centers.

TALENT & CULTURE

Just like our city, it's the people who make Experience Columbus great. This department is a support center for the organization and all its employees, which includes workplace environment, staffing, training and development. They also focus on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility programming.

* The methodology used to calculate this number has changed to establish a new benchmark.

Live for Your Passion