Tourism Means Business

2019 Travel Economic Impacts in Tuolumne County

Reported by Dean Runyan Associates for Visit California, May 2020

The research results for Tuolumne County are worth celebrating. The numbers from 2018 to 2019 demonstrate another increase in direct travel spending, employment and tax revenue at both the state-level and county-level. 

Travel Impacts for Local Businesses:

Total Travel Spending: $273 million = 7% increase over 2018

Lodging: $78.3 million

Food Service: $76.2 million

Food Stores: $11.8 million

Local Transportation & Gas: $29.7 million

Arts, Entertainment & Recreation: $35.4 million

Retail Sales: $30.5 million

Employment:

2,445 Tourism Industry Jobs (not including Black Oak Casino Resort and Chicken Ranch Casino)

State and Local Tax Receipts:

$21.3 million = 8.7% increase over 2018

State and local tax revenue is equivalent to $960 per Tuolumne County resident household.

Transient Occupancy Tax Collected in 2019:

Tuolumne County (unincorporated): $4.73 million

City of Sonora: $502,000

About the Transient Occupancy Tax

- Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) is paid by visitors to our County and is a benefit to everyone who lives in Tuolumne County and the City of Sonora.

- Visit Tuolumne County is funded by 25% of the collected TOT, allowing Tuolumne County to be marketed as a tourist destination across multiple channels nationwide and internationally.

- 75% of the collected tax revenue goes towards infrastructure, parks and other important public services.

- TOT dollars are the only tax dollars that stay 100% local!

- The tax is collected from guests who stay at our local hotels, motels, B&Bs, vacation rentals, cabins and other short-term lodging.

- TOT is not a tax on businesses.

- The collection of TOT reduces the tax burden for local residents.

- TOT rate in Tuolumne County and in incorporated Sonora is 10%.