The Butler County Visitors Bureau recently partnered with the State of Ohio and a company called Tourism Economic to find the economic impact of tourism in Butler County.
According to Mark Hecquet, executive director of Butler County’s Visitors Bureau, tourism generated $769 million in sales for businesses in Butler County in 2009.
According to the report, tourism accounted for $102 million in local taxes in 2009 for the area, as one in every 13 salaried jobs in the county is supported by tourism.
Diana Durr, executive director of the Oxford Visitors and Convention Bureau, recently completed an economic impact report which found that in 2009 more than $24 million came in from hotels, shopping, dining, parking and other expenses for visitors.
Durr said Oxford’s location is a major factor in its success in attracting visitors, as it is one hour from Cincinnati and Dayton, two hours from Indianapolis and two hours from Columbus.
Hecquet also said the county’s location is a factor in its success in attracting visitors.
“Our location is favorable; being located between two metropolitan areas gives us great accessibility from a tourism standpoint,” he said. “Location is very powerful.”
In addition to its location, Hecquet said Butler County’s diversity is helpful for its tourism industry.
“The business community is very strong down in the southwestern part of the county with strong Monday-Thursday clientele,” he said.
Hecquet said in addition to business traffic, Butler County also has a large number of weekend visitors.
“On the weekends we have youth sporting events that drive a lot of traffic, as well as the tourists who come in for general attractions such as Jungle Jim’s and Pyramid Hill,” he said.
Durr said Oxford is in a “sticky situation” when it comes to tourism.
“We don’t have a lot of venues and convention centers that are not on campus, so any events we plan we have to work with [Miami University],” Durr said.
According to Durr, the busiest month for the year is April, followed by October.
“In downtimes that we have tried to have more events around December and January; we try to bring in events when it is slow,” Durr said. “We are working on events two, three years in advance.”