More people are visiting Trumbull County.

In its 2023 annual report released Thursday, Trumbull County Tourism estimated the county had 518,600 visitors, a 10.7% increase compared to 2022.

Executive Director Beth Kotwis Carmichael said they arrived at the number through research from Placer.ai, which provides visitor information by tracking cell phone data.

Not only does it count out-of-market visitors through their cell phone usage, it also can provide information about age, gender, race, income and other details that can help Trumbull County Tourism determine where to market area attractions and how to shape the message.

“We’ve been able to focus on who our target markets are,” Carmichael said.

While a portion of that increase may reflect a return to travel patterns following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and its lingering impact, Carmichael said she believes the majority of the growth is driven by business and personal travel and economic development efforts.

When people hear the word “tourism,” they often think in terms of vacation destinations such as Walt Disney World or New York City. About half of visitors to Trumbull County are coming to see family and friends. Even if those visitors are staying with relatives instead of in hotels, they still have an economic impact.

Carmichael used herself as an example. Before she moved back to the area, she and her husband would come back and visit her family for about 10 days every year.

“Even though we’re staying at my parents, we’re still going out to dinner, shopping at Eastwood Mall, doing the things visitors typically do,” she said.

It’s one of the reasons Trumbull County Tourism has redirected some of its efforts to make sure residents are better informed about everything to see and do locally.

“We have a lot of fun, cool things for folks to do here and we want to make sure residents know that,” Carmichael said.

Golfing and outdoor activities at Mosquito Lake also bring visitors to the county. More visitors come to Trumbull County from Columbus, Cleveland and Pittsburgh than anywhere else.

The Trumbull tourism bureau receives economic impact statistics every two years from Tourism Economics, funded in part by Tourism Ohio and the Ohio Department of Development.

According to the most recent numbers released in 2022, visitor spending contributed $842 million in total economic impact and created more than 7,600 jobs in the county through direct, indirect and induced spending. It translated into $111 million in tax revenue and added $23 million to the local tax base.

Retail and food / beverage are the industries that benefit most from tourism, but other sectors benefit indirectly, including business services, finance, insurance and real estate.

New numbers from Tourism Economics will be released this summer, Carmichael said.

“We definitely expect there to be an increase over two years ago.”

agray@tribtoday.com