1. Economic Impact of Tourism Calendar Year 2017
Visit South Walton
Economic Impact of Tourism
Calendar Year 2017

2. Purpose of Economic Impact Research
Inform Marketing
Document
Inspire
Communicate 2

3. Tourism Matters to Walton County
$4,408,598,800
Economic Impact – CY2017 3

4. Total Economic Impact of Tourism – CY2017
$4,408,598,800
Induced – Increased business spending resulting from tourism dollars.
Indirect – Increased household spending resulting from tourism dollars. 4

5. 4,010,500¹
Visitors in CY2017
¹Visitors who stayed in paid accommodations + visitors who stayed with friends and relatives (VFRs) + day trippers. 5

6. Visitor Trends: CY2015 – CY2017
*Includes visitors who stay in paid accommodations, visitors who stay with friends, and day trippers. 12

7. Tourism Matters to Walton County – CY2017
Visitor to
Walton County
$1,099
In economic impact in
Walton County 7

8. Tourism Metrics Economic Indicators CY2016 CY2017 Change All visitors¹
3,692,200
4,010,500
+8.6%
Direct expenditures
$2,801,427,400
$2,978,783,000
+6.3%
Total economic impact
$4,146,112,500
$4,408,598,800
Jobs created - direct¹
20,700
21,900
+5.8%
Direct + indirect jobs¹
26,900
28,400
+5.6%
Wages paid¹
$598,672,000
$630,579,000
+5.3%
¹Includes visitors staying with friends and relatives and in their own condos and timeshares and day visitors. 8

9. Tourism Metrics – CY2017 Tourism Metrics FY2016 CY2017 % Change
Room nights
2,745,400
2,945,800
+7.3%
TDT collections
$22,110,692
$23,754,442
+7.0%
Occupancy¹
68.0%
67.9%
-0.4%
Room rates¹
$321.25
$325.55
+1.3%
RevPAR¹
$218.45
$221.05
+1.2%
¹Data weighted by season.
Data sources: Walton County government, properties in South Walton that rent to visitors, and Downs & St. Germain Research. 9

10. 21,900 jobs in CY2017
$630,579,000 in wages 10

11. Jobs in Walton County – CY2017
184 Visitors =
1 job in Walton County 11

12. Tourism’s Impact on Employment – CY2017
*Includes jobs from the direct, indirect, and induced impacts of visitors’ spending + jobs from visitor-related construction . 12

13. $23,754,442 TDT collected in CY2017 13

14. $1 of VSW marketing¹ spending is associated with about
Walton County TDC’s Marketing ROI
$1 of VSW marketing¹ spending
is associated with about
$323 in visitor spending.
¹Based on a $9.2 million marketing budget. 14

15. Revenues from Visitors to Walton County Government
Visitors account for over $99 million of Walton County government’s revenue.
65.6% of all Walton County government revenues come from visitors to South Walton.
 Sources of Funds
Total Revenues
Revenues Attributed
to Visitors
Property taxes
$62,754,355
$46,061,697
Sales & use taxes
$50,730,316
$31,554,257
Licenses & permits
$1,728,129
$1,074,896
Intergovernmental revenue
$18,958,647
$11,792,278
Charges for services
$9,020,080
$5,610,491
Fines & forfeitures
$106,300
$66,118
Interest earned/other
$5,056,448
$3,145,111
Balance budget forward
$5,688,252
$3,538,093
Less statutory 5%
$3,139,450
$1,908,344
Total revenues
$150,903,077
$99,026,253
Sources: Walton County FY2017 budget and Downs & St. Germain Research. 15

16. Net Benefit of Visitors to Walton County Government
$33.38 million – Net benefit of tourism to Walton County government
$1,213 – Tourism saves each Walton County household per
year in local taxes
$99,026,253 in revenues from visitors to Walton County government
Revenues from property taxes, sales & use taxes, licenses & permits, etc.
Visitors provide 65.6% of Walton County government revenues
$65,642,838 in costs to Walton County government for servicing visitors
Costs for road maintenance, law enforcement, beach maintenance, public works, planning & development, parks & recreation, etc.
Visitors account for 43.5% of the costs of running Walton County government
¹Based on how many days visitors and local residents use Walton County government infrastructure and services. 16

17. Visitors Direct Spending CY 2017

18. Visitors Direct Spending: CY2016 – CY2017
Category
CY2016
CY2017
Accommodations
$738,675,300
$805,996,400
Restaurants
$569,232,800
$602,714,900
Shopping
$590,332,800
$619,384,300
Groceries
$182,301,700
$193,670,900
Entertainment
$383,893,600
$411,370,800
Transportation
$192,259,200
$196,705,500
Other
$144,732,000
$148,940,200
Total
$2,801,427,400
$2,978,783,000 18

19. Average Daily Expenditure
Typical South Walton Travel Party – CY2017
Spent $889 a day
Spent $5,122 on their trip
Average Daily Expenditure
Total Trip
Accommodations
$383¹
$2,209
Restaurants
$144
$831
Groceries
$67
$382
Shopping
$127
$729
Entertainment
$70
$403
Transportation
$56
$323
Other
$42
$245
Total
$889
$5,122 1 2
¹This figure differs from the ADR reported by properties ($) because of various fees added to the price visitors pay such as swim & tennis fees, amenity fees, housekeeping fees, reservation fees, arts & entertainment fees, linen charges, damage fees, etc. 19

20. Direct Spending by Visitor Type CY2017

21. Retail Spending in Walton County – CY2017
Visitors to South Walton account for nearly 3/4 of retail spending in Walton County.
Spending in Walton County
Dollar Amount
Percentage
Visitors’ spending¹
$2,978,783,000
73.4%
Local residents’ spending¹
$1,078,545,500
26.6%
Total spending
$4,057,328,500
100.0%
¹Local residents’ spending derived from US Census data; visitors’ spending derived from Visitor Tracking surveys conducted for VSW by Downs & St. Germain Research. 1 21

22. South Walton Attributes: Gap Analysis – CY2017
Importance of attributes when choosing destinations vs. ratings for South Walton 22

23. Visitor Profile – CY2017 CY2017 Travel party size 5.3
Traveled with children <20 years of age
60%
Median age 53
Median household income
$148,200
Average household income
$217,900
Stayed in condo/rental house
76%
Drove
86%
Nights spent
6.1
1st time visitor
20%
10+ visits to South Walton
33%
Use the term “South Walton”
19% 23

24. Visitor Profile – CY2017 CY2017 Will return to South Walton¹ 95%
Rating for overall experience²
9.2
Has smartphone
97%
Used South Walton Beach app 7%
Viewed Visitors Guide
21%³
Planned trip
6+ months out
Used VisitSouthWalton.com
25%
Used 1 of 16 beaches’ websites
38%
¹Key reasons for not returning were “too crowded” and “prefer variety.”
²10-point scale with 10=Excellent & 1=Poor.
³18% used the online version. 24

25. Visitor Origins – CY2017 Top Origin States CY2016 CY2017 Georgia 14%
13%
Alabama
12%
11%
Texas
Tennessee
Florida 9% 7%
Louisiana 5%
Kentucky 3%
Mississippi 4%
Ohio
Missouri
Indiana
Illinois
Origins - Regions
CY2016
CY2017
South
72%
70%
Midwest
16%
19%
West 6% 5%
Northeast 3%
Outside US 2% 25

26. Visitor Origins – CY2017 Markets CY2016 CY2017 Atlanta 12% 10%
Dallas-Ft. Worth 5% 6%
Nashville
Birmingham 4%
Pensacola-Mobile 3%
Houston
St. Louis
New Orleans 2%
Markets
CY2016
CY2017
Panama City-Destin 2% 3%
Memphis
Cincinnati
Louisville
Knoxville
Chicago
Baton Rouge 1%
Montgomery 26

27. Visitor Activities – CY2017
Beach
92%
Restaurant
93%
Relax & unwind
85%
87%
Family time, read, cook
74%
75%
Shop, antique
73%
72%
Bike, run, etc.
50%
45%
Water sports
33%
27%
Bars, nightclubs
28%
Attractions
23%
21%
Visitor Activities
CY2016
CY2017
Special events
18%
16%
Golf & tennis
17%
Hiking, birding, eco
tours
15%
State Parks
13%
Cultural activities 9% 8%
Dune lakes
Spas 7%
Business 4% 3% 27

28. Information Sources for Visitors – CY2017
Nearly half of visitors (44%) use search engines when planning their trips to South Walton. 28

29. Trip Planning Cycle – CY2017
Over half (51%) of visitors plan vacations to South Walton at least 4 months in advance. 29

30. Lodging – CY2017 30

31. Purpose of Trip – CY2017¹ 31

32. Traveling to South Walton – CY2017
Drove to South Walton (86%)
27% of those who drove were aware that there were direct flights from their city to the South Walton area
14% who flew used the following airports: 32

33. Age of CY2017 Visitors
Median age = 53 33

34. Total household income in CY2017
Estimated median = $148,200
Estimate average = $217,900 34

35. Methodology
The economic impact of tourism on Walton County is based on data collected from 3,630 visitors to Walton County in CY Interviews were conducted throughout South Walton.
Total economic impact of tourism on Walton County is a function of direct spending by visitors in Walton County & induced + indirect effects of this spending.
Indirect effects are increased business spending resulting from tourism dollars.
Induced effects are increased household spending resulting from tourism dollars.
Downs & St. Germain Research uses IMPLAN¹ to calculate the economic multiplier for Walton County (1.48).
¹Over 1,500 organizations use IMPLAN, which has been used to model the economic impact of tourism since Agencies such as FEMA, EPA, Federal Reserve Bank, and Bureau of Land Management use IMPLAN. 35

36. Visit South Walton CY2017 Economic Impact Study
Jay Tusa, CDME, CTIS, TMP
Executive Director, Visit South Walton
(850)
Joseph St. Germain, Ph.D., President,
Phillip Downs, Ph.D., Senior Partner,
Rachael Anglin, Senior Project Director,
Hope Wiggins, Project Director,
Downs & St. Germain Research
: dsg-research.com 36