Residents of Hamilton County know it to be a great place to live and work. Many also know Hamilton County as a great place to visit.

A recent survey of more than 1000 residents as part of Hamilton County Tourism’s Business of Entertainment and Sport Tourism study* indicates they understand the value of having visitors spend almost $1 billion at local restaurants, stores, gas stations and hotels each year.

Residents feel positive about their community, with more than 80% saying they would recommend Hamilton County as a great place to visit. They would recommend visiting the vibrant downtown districts, parks and trails.

They describe their community as “friendly,” “family focused,” with great parks, food and restaurants.

More than 90% of residents recognize the value of tourism to the local economy. 

Specifically:

  • 90% said tourism supports employment
  • 95% said tourism supports new business development
  • 95% said tourism supports business with additional revenue
  • 79% said tourism supports diversity
  • 86% said tourism contributes to making the community a great place to live

Resident concerns over tourism included contribution to increased housing costs (61%) and traffic congestion (70%).

In the end, almost 90% of residents think the negatives of tourism outweigh the positives.

Hamilton County Tourism monitors visitor-to-resident ratios as part of its pledge to support responsible tourism. When the visitor-to-resident ratio is above 1.5 visitors to every 1 resident, locals feel they lose control over their community to outsiders.

During no month in 2022 -- despite some periods of high tourism traffic -- did Hamilton County’s visitor-to-resident ratio exceed one-half visitor per resident as tracked by a service called Near, which provides Hamilton County Tourism geolocation data for points of interest throughout the community.

There are some obvious “hot spots,” but they are scattered throughout the county, which distributes the tourism impact over a wide area and minimizes impact.

 *Source: Hunden Strategic Partners & MMGY NextFactor