Tourism's economic impact is up in Kentucky, and Governor Steve Beshear says last year's total was more than $13 billion.
That's an increase of 4.4 percent from 2013. The Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet says it's the first time the tourism impact figure has been more than $13 billion. Beshear says the economic impact increase by more than $2.2 billion and 13,000 jobs during the last five years.
The annual survey showed that tourism supported almost 180,000 jobs in Kentucky last year, up more than 4,200 jobs from the previous year. That resulted in more than $2.9 billion in wages for Kentucky workers, almost $123 million more than the previous year. Tax revenues were also up, with tourism generating $1.3 billion for local and state governments last year.