Tourists spent about $1.3 billion in the Baton Rouge metro area last year, according to a report from the University of New Orleans Hospitality Research Center.
Baton Rouge was the second most visited metro area in the state in 2016, predictably following New Orleans as a stop for domestic and foreign visitors to Louisiana.
The center notes that spending by tourists to the Baton Rouge area remained steady over the two-year period through 2016. Visitors, however, generated about $46 million in local taxes last year, a 7% increase over 2015.
The report was commissioned by the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism to analyze the economic impact of people visiting the state.
Tourists spent about $11 billion in Louisiana last year. Though tourism spending in the Capital Region was about even, East Baton Rouge Parish spending declined 1% to roughly $896.7 million. Ascension Parish also saw a 1% decline, while spending in Livingston Parish increased 8% to $103.7 million.
