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Tourism official says Spokane County saw record 10.2 million visitors in 2025, $1.55 billion in spending
Summary
A tourism presenter told Spokane County commissioners that 2025 brought a record 10.2 million visitors and $1.55 billion in visitor spending, generating about $242 million in local and state tax revenue and supporting roughly 17,754 hospitality jobs, she said.
A tourism official told Spokane County commissioners on June 2 that the county recorded 10,200,000 visitors in 2025 and $1,550,000,000 in visitor spending, the most the county has seen, according to the presenter.
The presenter said those visitor dollars generated roughly $242,000,000 in local and state tax revenue and described that tax contribution as roughly the equivalent of a $1,100 savings for every household in Spokane County. "We're excited to see that number continue to grow," she said, noting a just-under-2% year-over-year increase in visitation and spend.
The presenter broke out spending by segments she called out as food and beverage, lodging, retail, transportation and recreation, and emphasized that food and beverage remains the largest spending segment in the county. She said the visitor economy plays an important role for restaurants that have thin margins and thanked the board for recent promotional efforts that connect restaurants with marketing and consulting support.
She reported approximately 17,754 hospitality jobs tied to the visitor economy, down slightly from the prior year when the presenter said the sector was closer to 18,000 jobs. "It does equate to about 5% of jobs of the workforce in Spokane County are hospitality related," she said, and urged more investment in workforce training through partnerships with local colleges.
The presenter highlighted partnerships with the county airport — naming Dave Herring as the airport's new CEO — and said the airport is this year’s destination sponsor and will present at several events. She also invited commissioners to a June 16 presentation by David Blandford, executive director for State of Washington tourism, on a statewide assessment and a local TPA bill the presenter said they plan to pursue in the next legislative session.
Commissioners and attendees followed with questions about specific events, including attendance for Broadway shows and concerts; the presenter said Canadian attendance for one Broadway event was down about 10% and that concert programming is planned to expand from the four events in 2025 to six in 2026. The tourism presenter said staff will follow up with more detailed methodology and a fuller report.
The presentation concluded without formal action; staff said they would provide the detailed report and requested commissioner support for outreach on the TPA bill going into Olympia.
