# Which US state makes the least money from tourism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118 "2004-07-14T18:39:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/1 "2004-07-14T18:39:18Z")
This is inspired by a question from last night’s George & Dragon trivia contest in Seattle, at which several Dopers had their butts handed to them by some team we’d never heard of. Anyway. One question was: Which state is most dependent on tourism dollars, bringing in the most money per capita? Our answer was Hawaii, and the correct answer was Nevada. But then we started wondering which state was **least** dependent on tourism, bringing in the least amount of tourism money per capita. Rhode Island? Wyoming? One of the Dakotas? We resolved to open a GQ thread, so here you go. Anyone know – or have an educated guess? ---
**Author:** ![Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siddhartha_Vicious)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/2 "2004-07-14T18:53:18Z")
It certainly isn’t Wyoming (my home state). Devil’s Tower and the Grand Tetons alone attract many visitors every year. Then there’s a little thing called “Yellowstone,” which attracts millions. I heard once, and I can’t provide any cites whatsoever, that North Dakota had the least tourism of any state. I would suppose that, if this were true, then it would also likely make the least money from tourism. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/3 "2004-07-14T19:03:47Z")
SD had Mt. Rushmore. Newport, RI is a huge tourist destination. ND would be my guess. Haj ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/4 "2004-07-14T19:03:57Z")
SD has Mt. Rushmore. Newport, RI is a huge tourist destination. ND would be my guess. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/5 "2004-07-14T19:06:56Z")
Certainly not Rhode Island. Between Newport, the beaches, and Providence, there’s actually some stuff to see there. My guess would be Nebraska. Not very interesting geography, no huge attractions, and it’s far from everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/6 "2004-07-14T19:08:04Z")
If it’s a relatively large state (by population) with low tourism, then my guess is Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/7 "2004-07-14T19:11:34Z")
I’m thinking Iowa, Nebraska, or Kansas, myself. I mean, what is there to see in these places? They’ve got no coast, no lakes of significant size, they’re flat as a pancake, and covered largely with the blandness of large-scale agriculture (corn or wheat fields as far as the eye can see). ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/8 "2004-07-14T19:15:35Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > My guess would be Nebraska…no huge attractions Umm, excuse me, you must’ve forgotten [carhenge](http://www.carhenge.com/). ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/9 "2004-07-14T19:16:55Z")
North Dakota tourism spending (2003): $3 billion North Dakota population (2003): 633,837 Per capita tourist spending: $4733. Definitely not the winner. Illinois tourism spending (1999): $22 billion Illinois population (2000): 12,419,293 Per capita spending: $1771 Nebraska tourist spending (2001): $2.8 billion Nebraska population (2000): 1,711,263 Per capita: $1636 It’s a pain to do these. Population figures are [here](http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/). Tourism spending can be found by googling “state tourist dollars”. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/10 "2004-07-14T19:27:02Z")
OK, one more. Iowa tourism dollars (2002): $4.3 billion Iowa population (2003): 2,944,062 Per capita: $1460 (Note: [The PDF report](http://www.traveliowa.com/travel_industry/research/03_Results.pdf) that I got the numbers from has horrible charts with no vertical scales. Bad Iowa!) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/11 "2004-07-14T19:37:26Z")
> [@](#): > > If it’s a relatively large state (by population) with low tourism, then my guess is Ohio. I dunno… Tourism is now one of Cleveland’s top three industries (along with banking and telecommunications). No single huge attraction accounting for it all, but the Rock Hall, the Indians, the lake, and the various musea all add up. My guess would be one of the plains statee, but I don’t have time to do all the digging right now. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/12 "2004-07-14T19:58:52Z")
According to Michael Moore’s old TV Show, TV Nation, [North Dakota was the “winner” (ca 1994 at least)](http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/issues/v66/n20/tvnation.20o.html). > [@](#): > > The show’s next victim was the entire state of North Dakota, as “TV Nation” sent its investigator, in the dead of winter, to the state capitol to explore why North Dakota is the least visited state in the Union. This was a question she asked directly to North Dakota’s director of tourism. She even interviewed the state’s governor. As they both answered with carefully tailored answers, “TV Nation” would cut away to make them both look foolish. For example, the governor at one point referred to North Dakota’s “happenin’” night life, almost immediately followed by a cut away of a lone little bar, occupied by no one. > > As much as I searched for a message, I could find no deep subject that was being uncovered, except that this was basically a slam on the entire state of North Dakota. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/13 "2004-07-14T20:06:22Z")
Here’s some more corroborating [links:](http://minneapolisfed.org/pubs/fedgaz/02-05/nd.cfm) > [@](#): > > Although visitation is up 500 percent in the last decade, North Dakota remains the least-visited state, and the tourism department’s market research found it falls behind all competitors in every one of 12 “travel motivators.” That’s before travelers arrive. When visitors do come, their level of satisfaction is high, exceeding their expectations in all of those same 12 motivators, research showed, including categories labeled excitement, family atmosphere, popularity and uniqueness. [and](http://www.objectssearch.com/travel/get.jsp?page=/en/article/North_Dakota) > [@](#): > > North Dakota is the least-visited state in the union, not surprising given its location. But there is something to be found for those willing to venture into the unknown. Good luck to them! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/14 "2004-07-14T20:09:58Z")
> [@Interrobang!?](#): > > We resolved to open a GQ thread Bastage, you beat me to it. 😛 Interesting answers so far. I’m not sure Iowa or Nebraska came up as nominees in our roundtable chitchat, but they make sense. At least Kansas has Dorothy and the Dog working for it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/15 "2004-07-14T23:21:20Z")
The whole “per capita” thing is what’s skewing the numbers. ND has a relatively tiny population, so of course their per-capita tourism revenue will be high compared to a lot of other states with MUCH larger populations. The best way to look at this would be to figure out what percentage of the state’s revenue comes from tourism. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/16 "2004-07-14T23:53:29Z")
That’s a good point, **voltaire**. I carried over the phrasing from the trivia question, but which state’s economy is least driven by tourist dollars is probably a more interesting question. That may or may not correlate with the state that receives the fewest visitors, of course, because it’s always possible that people who visit North Dakota spend twice as much as people who visit Iowa. Unlikely, perhaps, but possible. So: in which state do tourist dollars make up the smallest percentage of the GSP (gross state product)? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/17 "2004-07-15T00:00:24Z")
Here is why no one goes to North Dakota. From the official state tourism website: [Scenic Wonders.](http://www.ndtourism.com/secondary/index.asp?choice=Scenic%20Wonders) 3 listed that no one has ever heard of. [This is what the website says about “Entertainment” in ND:](http://www.ndtourism.com/secondary/index.asp?choice=Culture_Heritage) > [@](#): > > Entertainment > North Dakotans enjoy a good time as much as anyone else. We invite you join us for top-name musical acts, theatrical productions, art galleries or sporting events. North Dakota has some of the finest venues in the country. Take time to see for yourself. The best source for details and schedules is the local Convention and Visitors Bureau Web sites. Total listed entertainment venues: 5 casinos and 7 indoor arenas – no major league anything. Really, search around and try to find anything that anyone has heard of, other than city names. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/18 "2004-07-15T00:09:28Z")
I think a lot of the question would depend on how “tourism” is defined. Would it include sporting events? If so, a state like Ohio with several pro sports teams would probably have more “tourist” dollars… Ohio also has King’s Island and Cedar point which draw tourists from neighboring Midwestern states. I think North Dakota would be tops, although I am surprised that New Hampshire hasn’t made the list as well. Indiana, without any revenue from Notre Dame or the auto races, would surely also be a contender. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/19 "2004-07-15T01:44:11Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > … I am surprised that New Hampshire hasn’t made the list as well. … New Hampshire is a very popular tourist destination for people from the Boston area, and elsewhere in New England, and rightfully so. It’s beautiful with excellent hiking (White Mountains, anyone?), some nice lakes and decent skiing in the winter. The closest “big mountain” ski areas to Boston are all in New Hampshire and easily reached by a day trip from the city. New Hampshire also still has a lot of old timey charm…red barns, white church steeples, covered bridges, that sort of thing. New Hampshire is putting out a big push to persuade Bostonians to come and visit during the Democratic National Convention, when all our roads and trains are going to be shut down. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118/20 "2004-07-15T01:48:59Z")
> [@Boyo Jim](#): > > Here is why no one goes to North Dakota. From the official state tourism website: > > [Scenic Wonders.](http://www.ndtourism.com/secondary/index.asp?choice=Scenic%20Wonders) 3 listed that no one has ever heard of. > > [This is what the website says about “Entertainment” in ND:](http://www.ndtourism.com/secondary/index.asp?choice=Culture_Heritage) Total listed entertainment venues: 5 casinos and 7 indoor arenas – no major league anything. > > Really, search around and try to find anything that anyone has heard of, other than city names. Living in Florida and dealing with it’s level of tourism, I’m beginning to think that the North Dakotans are onto something. Maybe there’s all sorts of entertainment and nightlife there, but they just keep it a secret to keep away the annoying tourists and all the resulting traffic. Then they put up a few boring things on their dull looking website so that anyone even considering it will change their mind. All the while, they’re over there partying like it’s 1999…I just know it! But seriously, it’s nice to know that there’s some relatively pristine and unpaved land still left, and I’m sure that’s the main reason that people live and travel to North Dakota. The attraction is that there are no attractions. (Heh, they should make that their state motto and put it on the license plates) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-us-state-makes-the-least-money-from-tourism/255118.md?page=2)