More visitors are spending more money in Orange County than ever before. OC Visitors Association Board Chair Jay Buress says getting nearly 50 million people to visit takes a county-wide effort.
"But they're also spending 12.52 billion dollars while their here. That's a big impact on every sector of our economy and that's a 3.5% increase in spending alone."
He says families may be coming for Disneyland or to catch a ballgame, but then staying and eating at restaurants or going to the beach. That's why tourism-related jobs have gone from 164,000 to 177,000 in the last year.
"We're out there trying to be apart of the solution and bringing in visitors who are leaving their tourist dollars here that then go into our city services on every level from county to city and returning back to their homes to tell a story of come visit Orange County."