Hardin County, KY, Releases Tourism Impact Numbers

The 2012 Tourism Impact numbers are in and the direct economic impact from Tourism in Hardin County was up by 9.1 percent over 2011.

Hardin County is the 7th highest income-producing county in the state in direct impact from tourism. Expenditures increased over $15 million from 2011. Sherry Murphy, Executive Director for the Elizabethtown Tourism & Convention Bureau said "This was a fantastic leap for us. We were expecting the figures to show a greater impact since the mid-July opening of the Elizabethtown Sports Park. The numbers were spot on. Tourism has always been a large part of the local economy. With the opening of the sports park, tourism has been able to gain ground and be more visible."

Tourism in Kentucky was also responsible for 174,006 jobs and the total economic impact for the state was more than $12.2 billion. That was an increase of 4.4 percent from 2011.

For more information on the economic impact study visit www.kentuckytourism.com/industry