Vermilion Parish tourism figures improve

Each year, the Vermilion Parish Tourist Commission (VPTC) compiles tourism figures from several sources and compares these numbers to previous years to measure the success of their marketing efforts to grow tourism in the parish. After being down for a couple of years, tourism began to slowly pick up in 2021 and has continued that trend in 2022.
“Having all of our major festivals return in 2022 and hosting several large tournaments at AA Comeaux and Quality Sports Authority helped our tourism industry recover during last year,” stated Alison Miller, VPTC Executive Director.
According to official tourism figures, more tourists have come to the parish to attend our festivals, eat at our local restaurants, and visit our attractions. Over 2,460 visitors came into the Center for information which is more than the previous three years.
Walk-in visitors included people from all over the United States, as well as international visitors from France, Canada, Germany, Spain, Costa Rica and Russia. Website visitation and requests for information from ads placed in regional and national publications remained steady.
In 2022, over 230,300 people visited the tourism website and social media numbers continue to grow each year.
VPTC is solely funded through a two percent occupancy tax on parish accommodations to operate the Tourist Center and market the parish. Sales tax revenue collected in 2022 was slightly down from the previous year. The revenue decrease is from the parish housing hurricane evacuees in the fall of 2021 and none last year. Miller is optimistic about 2023’s revenue. “The return of our festivals has helped bring tourism dollars into the parish. Plus, the renewed interest in developing Abbeville’s tourism could open more opportunities in the City and overflow into other areas of the parish. The more events, attractions and restaurants we have in our parish help attract visitors and bring in much needed revenue.”
To cover the majority of the marketing costs, VPTC applies for grants whenever possible. In 2022, the Commission received $20,000 from the Louisiana Office of Tourism to help market the parish through state approved advertising programs. In addition to this grant, VPTC received a $135,000 Louisiana Tourism Recovery Grant at the end of 2021. These grants help VPTC promote our parish’s tourism entities to a wider audience through print, digital and social media.
For more information on what to see or do in the area or to request a copy of the 2022 Progress Report, visit www.mostcajun.com or contact VPTC at 898-6600 or info@vermilion.org. The Tourist Commission office is located at 200 N Magdalen Square in downtown Abbeville and is open Mondays through Fridays from 9:00 am-4:30 pm and Saturdays from 9:00 am-3:30 pm.