ALLEN COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - Many people say there is nothing to do in Lima Allen County, but the numbers say otherwise.
"Visit Greater Lima" is getting economic impact numbers for the area, and those numbers are up for 2023. According to Tourism Economics, the county saw nearly $483 million in economic impact, with a total of $62.9 million in tax revenue. Those figures are calculated by the number of visitors and the money that they spend when visiting Lima-Allen County. There were a lot of events at the fairground in 2023, and an increase in day trips turned into stay trips that all went towards the bottom line.
"Tourism numbers impact our economic development. It impacts our jobs. It impacts our tax base. So, the higher we are with numbers and with people coming in, visiting, and spending money. Even if it's just a tank of gas, that is directly spending into our county," explained Betsy Billingsley, executive director of Visit Greater Lima.
Billingsley says people are coming in bigger numbers, and as a county, we depend on that for public and local taxes and for our jobs. She says we're all indirectly connected to tourism.
