Visitors spend record-breaking $2.1 billion in PA Wilds in 2024

Every county in region sees growth in visitor spending, taxes collected from tourism categories

Visitors spent a record-breaking $2.1 billion while visiting Pennsylvania Wilds in 2024, while the total economic impact of the visitor economy hit $3.29 billion for the region, according to the recently released Tourism Economics report.

The travel sector is an important piece of Pennsylvania’s economy. Each year, Tourism Economics releases a report in conjunction with the PA Department of Community and Economic Development to highlight key economic data for the Commonwealth and its eleven official Tourism Regions. According to the most recent report, 201.6 million visitors generated $83.9 billion in total economic impact in Pennsylvania in 2024.

The PA Wilds, one of the designated Tourism Regions, is known for being home to more than 2 million acres of public land and a growing outdoor recreation economy.  Since the Tourism Economics report began in 2009, every county in the PA Wilds has seen growth in visitor spending, taxes collected in tourism categories, and tourism-related employment.

During COVID, traveler spending declined across the Commonwealth by a whopping 37%. The Pennsylvania Wilds saw visitor spending drop by $530M, to its lowest level since 2009, but the region’s positioning as an outdoor recreation destination resulted “in a less severe decline than experienced by some of the other PA tourism regions,” according to that year’s report. The region has made an impressive rebound from the COVID dip, with record-setting numbers for three years in a row (2022, 2023, 2024).

The Tourism Economics report for 2024 shows a continuation of positive growth for the rural region, including:

• 4.3% of Pennsylvania visitors explored the PA Wilds, up 0.1% from 2023.
• Visitors spent 5.3% more in 2024 than 2023, with the $2.1 billion in expenditures ranging across four categories: transportation (32.1%), food and beverage (22.9%), retail (16.2%), and lodging (9.3%). 
• The total economic impact of the visitor economy reached $3.29 billion in 2024, up 4.6% from 2023, when considering direct sales, supply chain indirect sales, and income (induced) effects.
• Employment directly supported by visitor spending reached 11.8%, up 1.2% from 2023.

Ta Enos, CEO at PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship (PA Wilds Center), the backbone nonprofit leading the regional strategy to grow tourism and outdoor recreation as a way to diversify local economies, inspire stewardship, attract investment, inspire stewardship, and retain population, called the 2024 report “very validating.”

“We want to thank and congratulate the hundreds of local businesses, visitor bureaus and heritage areas, chambers, local and state government partners, corporate sponsors, and the many conservation and economic development nonprofits that are investing in the intentional growth of this sector for our rural region,” Enos said. “We know that visitors have a positive impact on our rural economy when they eat local, stay local, shop local, and experience what our region has to offer. Connecting more people to the outdoors, our public lands and to our rural way of life through meaningful travel experiences also inspires greater connection to and stewardship of these assets, which we love to see. And what these reports have shown over time is that the sector is not only growing, it’s making us more resilient and better able to weather storms.” 

Anne Ryan, Deputy Director of Tourism at Visit PA, shared a preview of the 2024 Tourism Economics report data during the PA Route 6 Alliance’s Annual Meeting & Educational Workshop, held in the PA Wilds in September. She expressed pride in her office advocating to release the report earlier than usual, with the Tourism Economics reports often lagging two years behind the release year.

“Data is so important to making cases for investment and to informing local community and economic development decision making,” Enos said. “No shocker, access to data for rural areas is more limited. So reports like these, that break down sector trends to the county and regional level, are critical for us. There is typically a long lag time between when tourism stats are collected and when they are released. To get access to data closer to real time is not only helpful in terms of better understanding trends and informing marketing strategies, but it also helps us – and our partners – make stronger cases for continued investment for rural PA.”

To read the Tourism Economics Report, visit https://www.visitpa.com/industry/research-statistics/economic-impact-travel-report/.