Sales Taxes

The travel and tourism industry is a key component to economic development in Ontario County. One of the areas that our industry specifically contributes to is the sales tax categories. One of the challenges of measuring our impact is that there is currently no specific code to which all of our "travel and tourism industry" reports their tax revenues. Therefore, travel and tourism taxes aren't always credited to travel and tourism. As an example - the wineries in our area, that host hundreds of thousands of people a year and sell wine to these folks on their premises, report their taxes in the manufacturing code. Similarly, when visitors go to Wegmans Market Cafe to eat, their dining is coded under the Food category, and not credited to eating establishments, which is one of the SIC codes for tourism. New York State Department of Economic Development credits the Travel and tourism Industry with 19 different SIC codes.

Ontario County's tourism agency has tracked two specific categories since its inception. These codes were tracked since a certain portion of their revenues were the basis for the tourism agency's budget. These codes were: Eating Establishments and Lodging Establishments.

New York State is not mandated to report these figures in any consistent or timely fashion, so the information tends to lag behind. We have provided for you the most current information that we have received in this two categories.

We believe that travel and tourism is one of the most "undercounted" industries in terms of its contribution to the economic vitality of an area. The SIC code system is being reviewed and there is consideration at the Federal level for a new SIC code for tourism. As our country's economic base changes, it is important that our industry work together to credit itself with the positive economic impacts that it generates by providing both local, county, and state taxes.

Read the latest NYS Economic Impact Study here