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Record number of tourists visited Delaware in 2018

Delaware Public Media

The Delaware Office of Tourism reports a record-breaking year for visitors to the First State. 

 

Roughly 9.2 million people travelled to visit Delaware in 2018, according to new statistics released by the Delaware Tourism Office Monday. 

Delaware Tourism Office Director Liz Keller says this was a significant increase over the course of a decade. 

“In 2008, we had 6.9 mililion visitors,” she said. “In that time, we’ve increased to 9.2 million..”

According to the state, tourism contributed $3.5 billion to Delaware’s economy two years ago— or 5 percent of the state’s Gross Domestic Product.

Keller notes visitors boost the state’s revenue. “Our out-of-state visitors, they contribute $545 million for state and local taxes and fees,” she said. “What that means is without tourism, each Delaware taxpayer would pay an additional $1,500 in taxes each year.”  

According to the Delaware Tourism Office, the most popular activities for tourists in 2018 remained consistent with recent years. Those were tax free-shopping, dining and visiting beaches. 

Tourists spent the most in New Castle and Sussex Counties. 

Keller says the tourism office has been embracing new technologies — including appsand virtual reality— to try to attract visitors. She says her office is looking to expand the demographic of visitors to Delaware, who tend to be older than the average U.S. traveller. 

“Expanding into the younger market is extremely important,” said Keller. “Firefly[Music Festival] has kind of opened up that door for Delaware to welcome the younger travellers. And we’re looking in 2020 to bring on some additional projects that will help expand upon their experiences in Delaware.”

Keller says a new state travel guide will also be released this year.

 

Sophia Schmidt is a Delaware native. She comes to Delaware Public Media from NPR’s Weekend Edition in Washington, DC, where she produced arts, politics, science and culture interviews. She previously wrote about education and environment for The Berkshire Eagle in Pittsfield, MA. She graduated from Williams College, where she studied environmental policy and biology, and covered environmental events and local renewable energy for the college paper.
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