Buena Vista County’s actual visitor spending number for 2021 totaled nearly 36.1 million dollars, according to the Western Iowa Tourism report.
Actual visitor spending in BV increased nearly one-million dollars from the pre-pandemic year of 2019. The number for 2020 was 26.8-million.
Transportation accounted for 28-percent of visitor spending in BV County for 2021…followed by Food and Beverage 22-percent…Lodging 19-percent…Retail 18-percent…and then recreation 13-percent.
Direct visitor spending statewide in 2021 was 6.1-billion dollars, a decrease of 300-million from 2019. The total economic spending impact for BV County in 2021 was nearly 54.3 million dollars, compared to over 9.3-billion statewide.