Long Island Tourism & Hospitality Statistics

Visitors spent approximately $7.9 billion on Long Island in 2024, supporting 78,418 jobs and generating nearly $945 million in state and local tax revenue. Tourism remained an important part of the regional economy, supporting businesses and workers across Nassau County and Suffolk County.

In Short

Long Island recorded $7.903 billion in direct visitor spending during 2024, an increase of 3.8% from 2023. Suffolk County accounted for about 59% of the regional total, while Nassau County accounted for approximately 41%. Food and beverage purchases were the largest spending category, followed by lodging, retail and service stations, transportation, recreation, and expenses associated with seasonal second homes.

The figures on this page come primarily from the 2024 Economic Impact of Visitors to New York study commissioned by New York State and prepared by Tourism Economics. The study measures visitor spending and its direct, indirect, and induced effects on employment, personal income, and government revenue.

Visitor Spending Reached $7.9 Billion

Direct visitor spending in the Long Island tourism region increased from approximately $7.612 billion in 2023 to $7.903 billion in 2024. The 3.8% annual increase marked the third consecutive year in which regional tourism spending reached a new high.

Long Island represented approximately 8% of all visitor spending in New York State during 2024. Among the state’s 11 designated vacation regions, Long Island ranked second in total visitor spending behind New York City.

The tourism study defines a visitor as someone who stayed overnight or traveled more than 50 miles to the destination. Spending estimates are developed from consumer surveys and industry data covering lodging, restaurants, retail businesses, recreation, entertainment, transportation, aviation, seasonal homes, and other visitor-supported activity.

Where Visitors Spent Their Money

Food and beverage purchases represented the largest share of Long Island visitor spending in 2024. Visitors spent approximately $2.846 billion at restaurants, bars, grocery stores, and other food and beverage providers, accounting for 36% of the regional total.

Lodging generated approximately $1.654 billion, or 21% of visitor spending. The lodging category includes hotels, motels, bed-and-breakfasts, campgrounds, short-term rentals, and services provided by those businesses.

Retail businesses and service stations received approximately $1.217 billion, while transportation spending totaled about $1.010 billion. Recreation and entertainment accounted for approximately $622 million. The estimated annual value associated with seasonal second homes contributed another $554 million.

Suffolk and Nassau County Tourism

Suffolk County generated approximately $4.665 billion in direct visitor spending during 2024, representing 59% of Long Island’s regional total. Spending in Suffolk County increased 7% from the previous year.

Suffolk’s visitor economy includes destinations and businesses throughout the East End, the Hamptons, Montauk, the North Fork, Fire Island, the South Shore, the North Shore, and numerous downtown, waterfront, agricultural, recreational, and cultural destinations.

Nassau County generated approximately $3.238 billion in visitor spending, representing 41% of the Long Island total. Nassau’s total declined slightly, falling 0.4% from approximately $3.252 billion in 2023.

Nassau County’s tourism and hospitality economy includes beaches, parks, museums, historic estates, sporting events, concerts, restaurants, shopping districts, hotels, weddings, meetings, and business travel. Its location between Suffolk County and New York City also makes it an important part of the wider metropolitan travel market.

Tourism-Supported Employment and Income

Visitor activity supported an estimated 78,418 jobs across Long Island in 2024. This represented approximately 6% of all employment in the region. Of those jobs, 56,672 were directly supported by visitor spending, while the remainder resulted from supply-chain activity and household spending supported by tourism-related income.

Suffolk County accounted for 42,275 tourism-supported jobs, including 30,552 direct jobs. Nassau County accounted for 36,143 tourism-supported jobs, including 26,120 direct jobs.

Tourism also generated approximately $4.107 billion in personal income across the region when direct, indirect, and induced effects were combined. Suffolk County accounted for approximately $2.361 billion of that income, while Nassau County accounted for approximately $1.746 billion.

State and Local Tax Revenue

Long Island’s visitor economy generated approximately $944.9 million in state and local taxes during 2024. The total included about $523.5 million in local taxes and $421.4 million in state taxes.

Suffolk County visitor activity generated an estimated $554.1 million in combined state and local taxes, representing 58.6% of the regional tourism tax base. Nassau County visitor activity generated approximately $390.8 million.

Tourism Economics estimated that, without taxes generated by visitor activity, the average Long Island household would have needed to pay an additional $976 to maintain the same level of state and local government revenue. This is a modeled estimate rather than a direct tax credit or payment received by individual households.

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Key Facts & Details: Long Island Tourism Statistics

Metric	Long Island	Nassau County	Suffolk County
Direct visitor spending	$7.903 billion	$3.238 billion	$4.665 billion
Change from 2023	+3.8%	-0.4%	+7.0%
Share of regional visitor spending	100%	41%	59%
Tourism-supported employment	78,418 jobs	36,143 jobs	42,275 jobs
Direct tourism employment	56,672 jobs	26,120 jobs	30,552 jobs
Tourism-supported share of employment	6.0%	5.8%	6.3%
Tourism-supported personal income	$4.107 billion	$1.746 billion	$2.361 billion
Local tax revenue	$523.5 million	$213.2 million	$310.3 million
State tax revenue	$421.4 million	$177.6 million	$243.8 million
Total state and local taxes	$944.9 million	$390.8 million	$554.1 million
Estimated tax replacement per household	$976	$857	$1,082
Largest spending category	Food and beverage, 36%	Food and beverage	Food and beverage
Reporting year	2024	2024	2024

How the Statistics Were Calculated

The figures were prepared by Tourism Economics for New York State using consumer survey information, lodging-industry data, aviation statistics, business sales, employment records, wage data, tax information, and other government and industry sources.

The study incorporates information from Longwoods International, STR, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau, and Tourism Economics. An economic model is then used to estimate three levels of tourism impact:

• Direct impact: Spending, jobs, income, and taxes generated at businesses where visitors directly spend money.
• Indirect impact: Economic activity generated when visitor-serving businesses purchase goods and services from suppliers.
• Induced impact: Additional economic activity generated when workers spend income earned from visitor-supported businesses.

The report does not provide a separate estimate of the total number of people who visited Long Island in 2024. For that reason, this page does not present an annual Long Island visitor count. Statewide visitor totals should not be used to estimate Long Island visitation without a separate regional methodology.

Data Sources

The principal source for this page is the Economic Impact of Visitors to New York: Long Island Focus, 2024, published in July 2025 by Empire State Development and prepared by Tourism Economics.

Additional confirmation of the regional totals was provided by Discover Long Island’s announcement of the 2024 results. Discover Long Island is the accredited destination marketing organization serving Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Long Island’s tourism economy extends well beyond hotels and traditional vacation travel. Visitor spending supports restaurants, shops, beaches, parks, marinas, wineries, museums, entertainment venues, transportation services, meetings, weddings, sporting events, downtown districts, and seasonal destinations throughout the region. The 2024 data show that these activities collectively remained a significant source of business revenue, employment, personal income, and tax receipts across both Nassau and Suffolk counties.