Abstract:

Tourism can promote job growth and income growth in regional economies. Policymakers in the regional government promote tourism to bring outside money into the local economy. Using accommodation tax revenue data published by the South Carolina Department of Revenue, this paper estimates the employment impact of tourism spending in South Carolina counties. The OLS regression results show that increased tourism spending, as measured by the accommodation tax, leads to increased total county employment, increased county employment in the accommodation sector (NAICS 721), increased county employment in full-service restaurant sector (NAICS 7221) and increased county employment in arts, entertainment, and recreation sector (NAICS 71).