Skagit County offers many tourist attractions – including outdoors activities, arts, wineries and breweries, festivals, farmer's markets, shopping, and fine dining. Tourism is often an important part of a community’s local economy, and since tourism goods and services are, by definition, purchased by people from outside the community, their spending represents new dollars injected into the local economy.
Tourism is, undoubtedly, an important component of Skagit County’s growing economy. From food and drink establishments, traveler accommodations, recreational centers, and retail trade, each of these various types of businesses contributes significantly to tourism and the local economy as a whole, and as a group are important employers for the region's workforce.
While spending as tracked by retail sales is one dimension of tourism in a local economy, employment in the tourism industry is another. This indicator measures the estimated number of people employed the key sectors frequented by visitors -- Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, Accommodation, and Food Service -- in Skagit County. Washington States serves as benchmark.
