Why We Exist
The Mississippi Tourism Association is an association comprised of tourism professionals established to support and empower Mississippi’s tourism industry through advocacy and education. Membership is open to those in the hospitality industry as well as public service organizations and
allied businesses.
Tourism is the 4th largest industry in Mississippi, employing more than 124,000
people and generating more than $6.34 BILLION in visitor spending. More than 23 MILLION people visited Mississippi in the past year. Our association was created to
be the voice of tourism for our industry partners around the state. We want to
ensure all visitors to Mississippi have a positive experience within a variety of
industry segments in travel and tourism, such as destination marketing
organizations, attractions, hotels, restaurants and others.
MTA strives to provide quality education and training opportunities and networking tools for our members. Through collaborative advocacy, we work to strengthen the tourism industry in our state.
-Rochelle Hicks, Executive Director
Mississippi Tourism Association
Mississippi Travel and Tourism Industry FY 2017 Figures
- $6.34 BILLION was spent by Travelers and Tourists.
- Over 23 million travelers and tourists visited Mississippi. 67% of Mississippi’s visitors were from out-of-state.
- Travel and Tourism is our fourth-largest private sector employer. It accounts for 87,335 direct jobs and an additional 37,245 indirect jobs.
- Annual direct payroll income for Travel and Tourism employees was $1.91 BILLION.
- Travel and Tourism provided $588 per Mississippi household in tax relief.
- Travel and Tourism produced $461.6 MILLION in state tax revenues and $184.7 MILLION in city/county tax revenues from visitor spending and other revenue sources…a combined $646 MILLION.