Muskingum County Sees Record $272 Million Economic Boost from Tourism

ZANESVILLE, OH – Muskingum County experienced $272 Million worth of economic impact from tourism in 2023.

TourismOhio recently released their economic impact reports.

Kelly Ashby, the Vice President of the Zanesville-Muskingum Convention and Visitors Bureau, says they are thrilled to see these numbers rising.

“That is up from 6% from the year before, which is up 5% from the year before that.” Ashby said. “The previous year before that was a 10% increase. I know when we shared some of these numbers with some of our public officials and the tourism board, that was one of the questions. ‘How does that compare to previous years?’ and we have seen significant growth over the past several years.”

Out of the 18 counties in Southeast Ohio Muskingum County is ranked 3rd, ahead of Hocking County.

Ashby says that Muskingum County also employs the most people in the region.

“We have over 3,200 employees, tourism specifically, that are also impacted by the tourism industry of Muskingum County.” Ashby said. “That actually is number 1 in Southeast Ohio, so really cool statistics, great numbers, and it shows why tourism is so important. It’s an economic tool, it’s an economic driver, and it does have a huge impact on Muskingum County.”

If you’re interested in more information about the Convention and Visitors Bureau you can head to visitzanesville.com.