In 2023, the City of Jackson generated $155 million in economic output and $90 million in direct traveler spending through meetings and events supported by Visit Jackson according to Rickey Thigpen, Visit Jackson’s president and CEO.
But for the first time in over a decade, with the exception of the first year of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Visit Jackson’s collected tourism revenue decreased by almost 6% in fiscal year 2023, Thigpen said.
Thigpen made the announcement Thursday at the visitor bureau’s annual tourism industry outlook meeting, where businesses and workers within the city’s tourism industry discussed the successes and failures of 2023 and goals for 2024.
The decrease in revenue was a result of recent challenges the city faced, including the Jackson Water Crisis and the flooding of the Pearl River in late 2022, Thigpen said. Impacting the tourism industry was also the fact that the city experienced 70 boil water notices in 2023.
More on the Jackson Water Crisis: How the Clarion Ledger covered the Jackson Water Crisis