SLIDESHOW: Visitors Spent $883 Million in MetroWest

The MetroWest Visitors Bureau held its 3rd Annual MetroBest breakfast on Friday, to celebrate the success of the region.

Visitors to the 19 municipalities of MetroWest in 2013, directly “spent $883 million on retailers, services, dining, hotels, culture, and recreation,” said MetroWest Visitors Bureau Executive Director Susan Nicholl.

This “brought in $21 million in local taxes and $44 million in state taxes,“ said Nicholl.

She said that it accounted for 7,390 jobs with a total payroll of $221 million.

Nicholl said these numbers don’t include residents, who can be tourists in their own region.

Framingham is host to a handful of tourist locations including Danforth Art, Garden in the Woods, and Amazing Things Arts Center. Nearby, Natick has the Mall, American Girl, and The Center for the Arts (TCAN).

Nicholl said one interesting fact was that ”$103.5 million of this spending was by international visitors.”

Total direct spending by visitors, both domestic and international, to the Commonwealth overall was $18.5 billion in 2013, said Nicholl.

The MetroWest Bureau, created in 2011, has grown significantly in its three years to the fifth largest bureau in the state.

The Bureau, which started with 19 cities and town, has now grown to include 30 communities in 2015.

During the breakfast in Westborough on Friday, Jan. 30, the Bureau announced that its MetroFest, an arts, music and food truck festival would return to Framingham on Sept. 26 in 2015.

The first-ever event held at Bowditch Field in September 2014 attracted more than 10,000 visitors.