“We are delighted to see such a significant increase in tourism spending in Genesee County,” says Amari Steward, executive director of Explore Flint & Genesee. “These numbers are driven by the growing appeal of our region for individual travel and from attracting sports and meetings to our area. As tourism continues to rise, so does the economic opportunity and jobs that this growth brings to our community.” 

Explore Flint & Genesee is the convention and visitors bureau division of the Flint & Genesee Group, contracted by Genesee County to attract meeting, group, and individual travel to Genesee County.  

These numbers reach further with visitor spending supporting 5,123 direct jobs and 8,180 total jobs in Genesee County. Food & Beverage was the largest impacted by visitor spending with $203.2 million supporting local restaurants and bar establishments. Additional data from the Michigan Travel USA 2023 Day Report shows that 30% of day trip visitors came to the region for shopping, up 6% from 2022, and 58% came to shop at locally owned businesses. 

Locally, Genesee County represented 42.3% of visitor spending in the East Michigan region, which includes Genesee, Huron, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Shiawassee, and Tuscola counties.  

Overall, Michigan saw a total of $29.3 billion in direct visitor spending according to the Economic Impact of Tourism report for 2023, which resulted in a total economic impact of $53.2 billion.  

For more information on Explore Flint & Genesee, visit ExploreFlintandGenesee.org.  

About Explore Flint & Genesee 
Explore Flint & Genesee, a division of the Flint & Genesee Group, is the destination marketing organization for Flint and Genesee County. As a convention and visitors bureau, Explore Flint & Genesee serves all tourism needs including conventions, sporting events, association meetings, leisure, motor coach tours, and business travel. For more information, visit ExploreFlintandGenesee.org, and check us out on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.