The number of out-of-state tourists who traveled to Ohio and residents visiting different parts of the state set a record last year. And all those visitors bring big money, especially for small businesses.
There were 245 million visits into and around Ohio last year, and those tourists spent $58 billion. That was an increase of 1.2% in visitors from 2024, and up almost 12% from five years before.
The state tourism director said the agency sees lots of opportunities, and has been reaching out to a specific group of tourists.
“The conditions appear right for continued growth," Wickham said in an interview. "We're really working to bring out-of-state overnight visitors into Ohio. We know that overnight visitors spend three times more than day trippers.”
Ohio Tourism campaigns have been largely directed at people within driving distance of the state. But Wickham said the addition of more daily flights in and out of Ohio cities opens up other marketing opportunities. JetBlue, Southwest and Air Canada recently announced new flights in Ohio, as well as and low-cost carriers Avelo, Allegiant and Breeze.
“We market in those places that are like three to five hours of drive away from Ohio," Wickham said. "So we're really now kind of looking at what are the opportunities that all of these new flights into and out of Ohio are bringing.”
The state estimates 447,000 jobs are supported by tourism, with a significant number at small businesses.
Wickham said the number one reason tourists give for being in Ohio is visiting friends and relatives, with attractions such as amusement parks, big events and other activities the second reason. When marketing Ohio tourism, Wickham said there three important "e" words: educating people about Ohio when they might not even have the state on their radar, exposing people to the right message about Ohio at the right time and repeating it across various forms of media, and emotional connections that tourists form in their visits to Ohio.
Tourist totals from previous years:
- 2025: 245 million
- 2024: 242 million
- 2023: 238 million
- 2022: 233 million
- 2021: 219 million
