Sweetwater tourism crashed in 2020

Tourism spending in Sweetwater County fell by $87 million in 2020 according to a recent report given by Jenissa Meredith to the Green River City Council.

Meredith, the executive director of the Sweetwater County Travel and Tourism, said the decline from 2019 spending is directly attributed to the coronavirus pandemic.

Meredith said prior to the pandemic, money collected from the county’s lodging tax were tracking upwards and though the pandemic hit the industry hard in March 2020, the lodging tax dollars collected were still up from fiscal year 2018-2019. During fiscal year 2019-2020, which ended June 30, 2020, taxes collected amounted to more than $1 million. Meredith also reminded the Council that this was influenced by a percentage increase approved by voters. Nine months of collection took place at 3%, with the other three months at 4% lodging tax.

The lodging tax is charged to anyone staying at a Sweetwater County hotel or motel and is used to promote the county’s tourism industry and local events to potential visitors outside the county