The San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport has completed its first economic impact study. Performed by Volaire Aviation, the comprehensive study examines the effect the airport, its businesses, and its travelers have on the region’s economy.
The results are powerful: Through a combination of providing jobs, generating taxes, and bringing in visitors that play, stay, and dine, the airport has an incredible $85.24 million impact on San Luis Obispo County each year. The airport creates 562 full-time jobs directly on the airport, and supports a total of 871 full-time jobs in the region. It also generates $14.3 million in taxes, $6.2 million of which stay at the local or state level.
Tourism also has an enormous effect on the region’s economy. Visitors that arrive to San Luis Obispo County by air have an estimated $41.5 million impact in the region, as they rent cars, shop in stores, and eat in restaurants. The report concluded that fly-in visitor activity is also responsible for 418 jobs in San Luis Obispo County.
“Until this year, we didn’t have solid figures on just how much the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport contributed economically to the region,” said Kevin Bumen, County Director of Airports. “This study sets the baseline for who we are today and lays out what we bring to the table. As the airport continues to grow, we’ll keep a close eye on the ways that growth positively affects the community.”
For more details from the economic impact study or to read the report in its entirety, visit https://www.sloairport.com/economic-impact/.
