1 MEMPHIS & SHELBY COUNTY TOURISM OVERVIEW
2 WHO WE ARE Memphis Tourism actively grows the Memphis and Shelby County economy by attracting visitors, conventions and events, promoting Memphis as a one-of-a-kind global destination that defines Southern hospitality through extraordinary experiences. Just in 2017, we generated 4.1% growth in total annual visitation over 2016, and we drove 5.0% growth in direct spending. Domestic visitors alone spent over $3.5 billion directly in our local economy in 2017. This direct spending in Memphis and Shelby County currently supports over 60,000 tourismrelated jobs in the larger metropolitan area, generating more than 1.51 trillion dollars in wages, which will likely be reinvested in our local communities. Not only does Memphis Tourism build the local economy, we also uplift our community's positive image through convention development, major events and destination marketing. We are the official destination marketing and tourism organization for Memphis and Shelby County, and we re proud to promote Memphis and Shelby County around the world.
3 VISITATION STATS 11.7 4.1% VISITATION GROWTH IN 2017 $3.5 MILLION 5.0% SPENDING GROWTH IN 2017 BILLION VISITORS IN 2017 VISITATION PATTERNS 2015 to 2017 DIRECT DOMESTIC TRAVEL SPENDING U.S. TRAVEL ASSOCIATION, 2017 January February March April May June July August September October November December
4 TOURISM JOBS 48.9K $1.13B SHELBY COUNTY HOSPITALITY & LEISURE JOBS SHELBY COUNTY HOSPITALITY & LEISURE WAGES 2.5% HOSPITALITY & LEISURE JOBS GROWTH IN 2017 8.2% WAGES GROWTH IN 2017 IN SHELBY CO 67.9K MEMPHIS MSA HOSPITALITY & LEISURE JOBS $1.51B MEMPHIS MSA HOSPITALITY & LEISURE WAGES
5 ORIGIN MARKETS INTERNATIONAL DOMESTIC Chicago New York City Canada The United Kingdom Little Rock St. Louis Nashville Atlanta Washington, DC Dallas Jonesboro Birmingham Australia The United Kingdom, Canada and Australia continue to be our top-performing international origin markets, while Dallas/Fort Worth; Atlanta; Chicago; Washington, D.C; and New York City are our top five national origin markets so far in 2017. Our top-performing regional overnight origin markets include Little Rock; Nashville; Saint Louis; Jonesboro, AR; and Birmingham. International travelers stay the longest and spend the most in Memphis and Shelby County. According to VisaVue Travel data, only 43 percent of our domestic visitors in 2017 were from our region. The majority of our domestic visitors were from our national origin markets, which are more than 350 miles away from Memphis and Shelby County. Additionally, according to VisaVue Travel, national visitors spent over $55M more in Memphis and Shelby County than regional visitors and that s only counting transactions that VisaVue Travel tracks. These are just a few reasons why it pays to promote Memphis and Shelby County all over the world.
6 VISITOR FACTS Repeat Visitors 33% 2.92 ANNUAL TRIPS TO SHELBY COUNTY BY REPEAT VISITORS First-Time Visitors 67% 67 percent of visitors are experiencing Memphis and Shelby County as first-time visitors. Over the past ten years, this share of our audience has more than doubled, clearly illustrating the impact of Memphis Tourism s strategies. Repeat visitation has also increased. On average, repeat visitors now report taking 5.84 trips to Memphis and Shelby County in the past two years, which is an increase of over 31 percent in the past ten years. 64 percent of Memphis and Shelby County visitors stay overnight and overnight leisure visitors make significant contributions to our local economy. On average, overnight travel parties spend approximately $514 nightly during their trip. Our hotel guests spend slightly more than that, averaging $584 nightly per travel party. On the other hand, daytrip travel parties typically spend $254 during their visit. On average, overnight Memphis and Shelby County leisure visitors report staying 2.7 nights in our city. $514 AVERAGE NIGHTLY SPENDING FOR OVERNIGHT TRAVEL PARTIES 2.7 AVERAGE LENGTH OF STAY FOR OVERNIGHT TRAVEL PARTIES
7 TRIP MOTIVATORS Music- Motivated INTERNATIONAL Visitors 80% Music- Motivated NATIONAL Visitors 65% While our music plays a vital role in motivating the travel decisions of Memphis and Shelby County visitors, once they arrive in Memphis and Shelby County, one of the most remarkable aspects of their trip is the food. Just over 20 percent of the 1.7K Memphis and Shelby County visitors interviewed by Memphis Tourism this past summer said food or BBQ were the single words that summed up their favorite thing about their trip. Clearly, our culinary scene is one of the most memorable features of our destination. NATIONAL TRIP MOTIVATORS Music Legacy Beale Street Live Music Family History Outdoors 65% MUSIC REGIONAL TRIP MOTIVATORS Based on these research findings, among others, Memphis Tourism is now using geolocation-driven data and new marketing technology to target specific ideal audiences with more precision than ever before, so we can drive higher visitation. Music Legacy Beale Street Live Music Family History Outdoors 56% MUSIC
8 OUR BRANDS INFORMATION PROVIDED BY MEMPHIS TOURISM
9 INFORMATION PROVIDED BY MEMPHIS TOURISM