Westchester has demonstrated significant growth in its travel and tourism sector over the past decade thanks to both a surge in the filming industry and successful marketing initiatives. Here are some current stats on how visitors to our county impact the economy.
As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “…in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” and visitors in 2023 paid $141 million in taxes to Westchester and $119 million to New York State.
For history buffs who love to travel, the Rockefeller Estate, Kykuit, in Pocantico Hills is a major draw and averages between 50,000 to 60,000 visitors each year. That’s an estimated $1.5 million in ticket sales.
Thanks to social media, anything can go viral. This was the case for the towns of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, which gained widespread notoriety on TikTok this past fall when it became a trend to plan day trips to see the spooky attractions. No longer just a local haunt, “Sleepy Hollow day trip,” the most viral video tagged, racked up nearly half a million views and sent people in droves to the Tarrytown Halloween Parade. There were over 10,000 people in attendance, some from as far away as Kentucky and Scotland. The Sleepy Hollow Tarrytown Chamber of Commerce Street Fair was equally bombarded after it was reported on by the New York Times, with local police estimating a wave of 25,000 – 30,000 people. Restaurants between the two towns had three-hour wait times for tables.
In 2023, tourists in Westchester spent: $518 million on lodging $208 million on recreation $785 million on food & beverage $385 million at retail & service stations $223 million in transportation $42 million on second homes in the area
This marked an 8.6% growth from the previous year. That same year, Westchester accounted for nearly half of the $5 billion in tourism spending across the Hudson Valley.
The influx of tourism to the region was able to support the creation of 21,101 jobs.
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