Lodging tax revenue for 2020 was recently released by the Washington State Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC), and highlights the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on tourism.

Municipalities distribute lodging tax funds locally and report data to JLARC, with the exception of King County which is exempt. Data was not available from Seattle for 2020.

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Statewide, 181 municipalities reported spending $55.9 million in lodging tax revenue, which funded 1,215 activities. Roughly 44.4 million attendees participated in these events, which generated 7.9 million paid lodging nights.

That’s down from 2019, when there were 1,646 funded activities, 72.9 million attendees and 16.1 million paid lodging nights.

The total cost for these activities last year was $133.2 million, down significantly from the $253.6 million seen in 2019.

Paid lodging nights had been growing over the years prior to 2020, but saw a significant drop during the pandemic. This same trend was seen with attendees who didn’t pay for lodging as well.

Since data from Seattle and King County were not available for 2020, Bellevue topped the list of cities which spent money on activities, clocking in at $12.5 million. It was followed by Olympia, which spent nearly $8 million, and SeaTac at $7.6 million.

All of the top 10 highest spending cities were from west of the Cascades, with Spokane Valley clocking in 11, having spent $3.2 million in 2020.

Restrictions on travel and business were enacted beginning in March 2020 in an Washington state, in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19.

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