Tourism commissioners: visitor economy brings $4.2 billion; Canadian spending fell sharply in 2025

Heather Pelham, Commissioner of the Department of Tourism and Marketing, presented tourism metrics to the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 11, describing the visitor economy as a revenue driver that supports jobs and state tax receipts.

"We are bringing 16,000,000 visitors here on an average annual basis, who spend $4,200,000,000 in the state," Pelham said, adding that visitor spending produces about $300 million in direct tax revenue. She described tourism as roughly 9% of Vermont’s GDP and responsible for about 30,000 jobs.

Pelham also outlined the department’s advertising effectiveness work. She said a recent winter campaign costing $538,000 generated an estimated 145,000 incremental trips and produced an estimated 5.74:1 return on visitor spending, and a 43:1 tax revenue return for that campaign.

The department warned of a sharp decline in Canadian visitation metrics in 2025. "We have seen that our credit card spending has down basically in half. So we are down year to date 48% in credit card spending from our Canadian visitors, which basically calculates into a loss of about $75,000,000 in visitor spending in 2025," Pelham said. She described multiple contributing factors — exchange rate, border sentiment and safety concerns, and federal rhetoric — and said the department is pursuing targeted messaging and partner discounts to encourage a return when conditions improve.

Pelham said the department is not requesting a base appropriation increase this year but emphasized the department’s role in bringing revenue to the state and described a range of ongoing programs, including a destination management plan, outreach to regional partners, and the Grow Grants program aimed at encouraging relocation and retention.