Report: State loses big time tourism bucks due to early August school opening

Frankfort, Ky. – The drop in tourism business in August from July in 2014 cost the Kentucky economy $432 million, according to a recent economic report.

The tourism industry attributes the major drop in tourism in August to the increasingly earlier opening of Kentucky’s public schools.

The study shows that nearly 6,000 tourism jobs ended in August and that over $45 million in local and state tax revenue was lost due to the decline in tourism business. These are among the key findings of a study carried out for the Kentucky Marina Association (KMA) and the Kentucky Travel Industry Association (KTIA) by Certec, a Versailles research firm.

“Kentucky tourism drops immediately and sharply upon the opening of schools. What is a peak in July becomes a cliff in August. This study documents what we already know about that cliff. In doing so it also demonstrate how valuable tourism is to this state.”

The data used for the study was from calendar year 2014. Major findings of the study include:

• Nearly $432 million in revenue was lost by the Kentucky travel and tourism industry in August 2014 compared to July 2014.
• There was a 27 percent drop in direct expenditures by tourists from July to August. A 1985 study found an 11 percent drop in expenditures from July to August. Thus, as schools have opened on increasingly earlier dates, the gap in spending between the two months has continued to dramatically widen over a 30-year period.
• August school days cost Kentucky 5,943 jobs due to the lower spending in August. Nearly three-fifths of lodging properties and attractions lost employees in August. All the marinas surveyed indicated they lost employees.
• $96.8 million in lost wages resulted from the reduction in workforce in August.
• $45.2 million were lost in state and local tax revenues between the two months.

“Kentucky tourism drops immediately and sharply upon the opening of schools,” said KTIA President and CEO Hank Phillips. “What is a peak in July becomes a cliff in August. This study documents what we already know about that cliff. In doing so it also demonstrate how valuable tourism is to this state.”

A summary of the study accompanies this release and the full study can be found at http://www.ktia.com/august-school-opening-research.