Dylan Deane-Boyle, CEO of Visit Bellingham Whatcom County, during the Blaine Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting on June 6. Annual direct travel spending in Whatcom County increased 9.1 percent from 2022 to 2023, for a total of $750.8 million in 2023, according to data released by Tourism Economics. Every sector of the tourism industry continued to recover from the pandemic, but the number of tourism jobs remained fairly stagnant after significant increases in 2022. Recreation tourism grew the most of all sectors, at 11.4 percent. Whatcom County had 3.42 million visitors in 2023 who spent an average of $1,129 per trip.
