Eclipse brought $42 million to Southern Okla. economy, State Tourism Dept. says
Okla. (KXII) -As many of us are reminiscing on the spectacular eclipse that moved through Texoma.
The Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department has calculated the number of visitors from the eclipse and its economic impact on Southern Oklahoma.
“Just words don’t do it justice,” said Chase Horn, Director of Communications for the Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department.
The Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department said from just seven Southeastern Oklahoma State Parks alone, they saw more than 122,000 visitors.
“We had three in totality, Beavers Bend, Talimena, and Wister,” Horn shared, “And then we had four that were kind of right at the edge of totality at 98%, Lake Texoma, obviously Lake Murray, Robbers Cave, and McGee Creek.”
One man found the eclipse a perfect time to get down on one knee.
“We actually had someone get engaged during the eclipse in totality, so that was super neat,” Horn exclaimed.
From April 4 through the 9, visitors generated $15 million for the parks.
“Beavers Bend was sold out for months leading up all the campgrounds, the lodge, all the cabins,” Horn shared.
The department estimates visitor activity brought an economic impact of $42 million in the region.
“A thing a lot of people don’t realize is tourism is actually Oklahoma’s third largest industry,” Horn said, “In 2022, the last year we have numbers for, we brought in $11.8 billion in direct visitor spending, that’s billion with a B.”
Whether there’s an eclipse to view or not, “it’s great, cheap, family fun to get the kids off those video games, stop them from watching TV, get outside and let them have fun in nature, and maybe trick them into learning a little bit,” Horn added.
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