The last few years have been good for the tourism and convention business in Northeast Ohio. Visitor and convention bureaus in Cleveland and Akron both report significant growth in 2015.
Destination Cleveland says a record 17.6 million business and leisure travelers came to Cuyahoga County last year. That’s a nearly 4 percent increase over the year before and translates into an economic impact of more than $8 billion.
Jim Mahon of the Akron-Summit Convention and Visitors Bureau says greater Akron’s restaurants, retail, hotels and entertainment venues have also benefited from an increase.
“From 2013 to 2015 direct travel and tourism industry sales grew 12.4 percent from approximately $1.37 billion to $1.54 billion.”
Mahon says during that period, tax revenues from travel and tourism in Summit County grew by more than 9 percent. Destination Cleveland expects the boost from this summer’s Republican National Convention to help travel and tourism keep growing across the entire region.
