Travelers to Washington spent an estimated $14.2 billion in the state last year, according to the preliminary 2009 Travel Impacts Report released today by the Department of Commerce and Washington State Tourism.

“This report shows that the travel industry in Washington is a significant contributor to our state’s economy,” said Marsha Massey, Executive Director for Washington State Tourism. “Once again, we see that tourism has tremendous potential to help Washington mitigate the current economic challenges, bring in new revenues and create jobs statewide.”

The annual Washington State Travel Impacts report studies the state’s travel industry and its statewide economic effects. Prepared for the Department of Commerce by Dean Runyan Associates, the full Travel Impacts report is available on Washington State Tourism’s industry Web site at http://www.experiencewa.com/Industry.

Key highlights from the 2009 report include:

— Total employment directly generated by travel spending in the state was 147,600 in 2009, which represents approximately 3.8 percent of all jobs in Washington. Additionally, travel spending directly generated $4.2 billion in earnings (payroll), representing 2 percent of all earnings in the state. Tourism also supports small businesses in Washington: 85 percent of travel-related businesses have 50 or fewer employees;

— Many of Washington’s less populated counties have a greater number of travel-generated jobs in relation to total employment, making those counties more dependent on the travel industry. The six counties with more than 10 percent travel-generated jobs were all non-urban. Further, the 14 counties with more than six percent travel-generated jobs were also non-urban. Travel spending generates more than 15 percent of local sales and lodging taxes in eight counties, all of which are non-urban;

— In 2009, travel spending in Washington generated nearly $1 billion ($958 million) in local and state tax revenues. On a household level, visitors from outside Washington (residents of other states or countries) generated $235 of tax revenue for each Washington household and resident travel within the state generated an additional $140 of tax revenue per household;

— There were an estimated 5.6 million domestic air passenger arrivals to Washington in 2009;

— International visitors accounted for $1.3 billion in visitor spending in 2009;

— Residents from other states accounted for $6.4 billion in visitor spending in Washington in 2009;

— Visitors who stayed overnight in commercial lodging (hotels, motels, resorts, and bed and breakfasts spent $6 million in 2009.