Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tourism Economic Impact topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Visit Greenville says FY25 activity generated $453 million in local economic impact
Summary
Visit Greenville reported near $16 million in total revenue for fiscal 2025 and said its marketing and group-sales efforts helped influence roughly 1.5 million leisure trips that produced an estimated $453 million in annual economic impact and about $34 million in state and local tax receipts.
Visit Greenville reported its fiscal 2025 results to the Greenville City Council work session on Nov. 1, saying the organization's programs and marketing produced a measurable return on public investment.
Heath, presenting the organization's annual report, told the council Visit Greenville's total revenues for fiscal 2025 were just under $16 million, and that nearly $5 million of that came from public sources, including the city, local accommodations taxes and state accommodations taxes. "We leverage those public and private dollars through really robust sales, marketing, and communication campaigns," Heath said.
The presentation said Visit Greenville reached about 22 million people with paid media and that independent measurement attributed roughly 1.5 million leisure trips to that paid activity. The group estimated those influenced trips produced $453 million in annual economic impact and yielded about $34 million in state and local taxes. Digital channels remain a large part of the effort: the website drew more than 5.1 million visits in fiscal 2025 and social channels reported about 272,000 engaged followers.
Heath also described Visit Greenville's role in convention sales and event support. The organization said its group-sales work generated roughly 185,000 group room nights and $152 million in group-related economic impact, producing about $11 million in state and local taxes. The destination-experiences and volunteer ambassador programs were highlighted as a means to improve visitor experience and local hospitality capacity.
Council members asked for more detail on how the tax-to-tax return breaks down specifically for the city. Council member Gibson pressed for a city-level estimate of direct returns on the roughly $5 million in public support. Heath said he would provide the city-specific breakdown after the meeting.
The presentation closed with survey data Visit Greenville said it collects annually; Heath said 98% of surveyed Greenville County residents believe the county has benefited from tourism, and the presenter described rising resident sentiment about tourism's value.
The council did not take any formal vote on the presentation; members reserved questions and requested follow-up figures on the city-specific fiscal return.
