Tourism drives roughly $4 billion in Vermont economy; agency outlines visitor research, relocation grants and accessibility work

Heather Powell, commissioner of the Department of Tourism and Marketing, told the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs on Jan. 28 that tourism generated about $4,000,000,000 in economic activity in Vermont in 2023 and accounted for roughly 9.3% of the state’s gross domestic product.

The presentation summarized newly completed 2023 visitation and spending estimates, the launch of a year-long visitor survey running through October 2025, federal grant-funded destination-development grants, a two-track relocation program called GROW, and work by the department’s chief marketing office on statewide brand and digital accessibility.

Powell said the department contracted with Tourism Economics (part of Oxford Economics) to compile a comprehensive economic analysis using tax records, hotel reporting and third-party data sources for short-term rentals and other accommodations. She said the analysis places overall visitor volume near pre-pandemic levels and noted an earlier benchmark of about 13,000,000 visitors from a 2017 estimate.

"We can now say that tourism is a $4,000,000,000 industry in Vermont," Powell told the committee. She said the report estimates tourism accounts for about 10% of Vermont jobs and produces $282,000,000 in direct tax revenue; the study also models induced and indirect effects beyond those direct numbers.

Powell described the department’s visitor-research work as a mixed-methods effort. "We have engaged in a different research effort, which is a year-long visitor survey ... and will go all the way through October 2025," she said. The department is running intercept surveys at roughly 30–40 locations around the state for three-hour or shorter periods and is distributing QR-linked postcards and table tents to collect online responses. "The survey itself takes about 15 minutes," she said.

Committee members asked how the analysis captures stays in short-term rentals and visits for non-tourism reasons (weddings, funerals, visiting friends and family). Powell said the contractor used tax data, KeyData short-term-rental data, STR hotel reporting and other sources to estimate overnight and day visits and that the visitor survey is intended to improve understanding of motivations.

Powell said destination-development work and the recent county-level breakdowns were made possible by a federal Economic Development Administration grant to support post-COVID recovery and outdoor-recreation planning. The department used those funds to support the research, develop a public data dashboard, run a brand study and award competitive grants of up to $150,000 for transformational events, regional marketing and destination development projects.

On relocation, Powell outlined the GROW program, funded in part with increased base allocations from the Legislature that created two tracks: a relocation track that passes qualified leads to local partners and an outreach track to build community capacity. She said the first grant round covered two years at roughly $75,000 per grantee per year and that not every county is covered yet; she specifically noted the department did not receive a proposal from Franklin County and expects to reopen the program in 2026.

Powell said monthly grantee reports now allow the department to follow leads through a "sales funnel" from initial inquiry to relocation and that some communities (for example, Rutland County) show strong results where local programs such as Real Rutland are established.

The agency is preparing a paid relocation creative campaign aimed at New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Tampa and said the overall relocation audience includes both job seekers and remote workers. Powell emphasized that visitation marketing and relocation messaging can reinforce one another.

Powell also described internal state services carried out by the chief marketing office, including management of the state mark (the Moon Over Mountains mark), procurement guidance for marketing contracts and a digital accessibility roadmap to prepare agencies for an expected ADA web-accessibility rule in 2026. She said the chief marketing office is running communities of practice and training to raise statewide communications capacity.

The presentation included workforce-development elements: the department has supported a hospitality management program at the University of Vermont and is developing a BIPOC visitation strategy to understand barriers and messaging needs for visitors and residents of color. Committee members urged attention to climate resilience and destination stewardship as components of the destination-management strategic plan; Powell said regional forums the week of Feb. 10 will include those topics.

The department said it will publish seasonal findings from the visitor survey and roll those into an annual report next fall, maintain the tourism research page on its website, and return to the committee with updates. The committee scheduled additional industry updates later in the hearing agenda.