Oct. 19—A fire that broke out in Ruidoso in April 2022 — one that charred more than 200 homes and left two people dead — could have hurt the small mountain town's tourism scene.
But when the fire was contained, said Robert Duncan, the owner of Upper Canyon Lodging Co. in the village in southeast New Mexico, tourists started coming back in strong numbers.
And Ruidoso wasn't unique. In 2022, New Mexico had its best year ever in tourism, which may have been sparked, in part, by the 50th Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta.
A report released by the New Mexico Tourism Department on Wednesday shows the state saw a record-breaking $8.3 billion in direct spending in 2022. That number — which is money spent directly with tourism-oriented businesses — doesn't include induced and indirect spending.
Considering that type of spending — which includes household consumption, the supply chain and business-to-business goods and services — the total economic impact was $11.2 billion, according to the report.
"The numbers bear out what New Mexicans already know: there is truly no place in the world like our beautiful state," Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said. "We will continue to invest in and promote the Land of Enchantment, ensuring that New Mexico remains a top destination for travelers while also benefiting local residents and businesses."
Direct spending beat 2019's record of $7.4 billion and continued a trend of recovery in tourism following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, direct spending stood at $7.2 billion, with a total economic impact of $10 billion.
The report, put together by Tourism Economics, follows another similar report from the Tourism Department released in September. That report was put together by Longwoods International and is based primarily on survey responses. The September report put total expenditures in the state at $7.6 billion.
"Although the Longwoods International report includes economic impact estimates, this report is particularly valuable for the demographic and visitor behavior insights we glean from this report," state Tourism Department spokesman Cody Johnson said. "Because the report from Tourism Economics looks at tax and spending data, this report is more helpful for us to analyze economic impact. Together, the two reports help us understand visitor volume and visitor spending each year."
The 2022 report from Tourism Economics shows about 24 million people visited New Mexico on day trips and about 17.3 million people stayed overnight.
Many areas of visitor spending saw significant growth from 2021 and some of 2019's record highs. Nearly $1.9 billion was spent on food and beverage, about a 12% increase from 2021. Transportation spending increased by more than 20% from 2021 and reached nearly $1.4 billion last year. Retail sales climbed to nearly $1.4 billion, up from about $1.3 billion the previous year.
Spending on lodging saw a significant increase. Visitors last year spent roughly $2.7 billion in lodging, which includes services provided by hotels, rentals and similar businesses. Lodging spending accounted for 32% of all visitor spending in 2022 and was a 13% increase from 2019.
Tania Armenta, the president and CEO of Visit Albuquerque, said hotel data for occupancy last year stood at 65.2%, up from 62.2% in 2021.
She said 2022 was a strong year for leisure and sports tourism in the city, a likely boost to those numbers.
"This growth in tourism equates to more people employed in tourism, more revenue for small businesses, stronger tax revenues and enhancements to residents' quality of life," Armenta said.
Duncan, who owns the lodging management company in Ruidoso and also sits on the village's Lodger's Tax Committee, said despite the devastating and deadly McBride Fire last year, the business ended up performing relatively well.
Duncan added that he expects 2023 will be an even stronger year for Ruidoso and the state, considering his business has seen a steady stream of visitors from Texas — especially during the hot summer.
"I look at my numbers 2023 versus 2022, I'm probably up 30% year to date," Duncan said. "Some of that's organic growth, obviously, and (also) because it was a hot summer."
State's largest event
A strong 2022 in tourism was likely bolstered by the 50th Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta — an event that drew many out-of-state visitors, which accounted for 76% of attendees.
The event, despite being marred by bad weather, still pulled together big numbers. A report commissioned by the Balloon Fiesta shows the event last year drew more than $119 million in direct spending and had a total economic impact of $203.2 million.
Sam Parks, the Balloon Fiesta's executive director, said typically numbers increase each year for the Balloon Fiesta as other costs also rise.
Because 2022 marked the 50th anniversary for the Fiesta, which is already a bucket list item for many, it likely helped propel last year's Balloon Fiesta to new heights, Parks said. The Fiesta had marketed the event heavily, especially to cities with direct flights to Albuquerque — like San Diego, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City.
"We can contribute a lot of that to the Balloon Fiesta because it is the state's largest event," Parks said. "And of course, we're the largest balloon festival of its kind in the world. So we were anticipating large crowds."
Parks added, "While people are here in Albuquerque, they're actually doing side visits. They may take a bike ride or they're going on hikes, and they're going to Santa Fe — they're doing other things because the ballooning is early in the morning and maybe late in the evening if we've got an evening session. But there's lots of time for tourists to do other things besides attend the festival."
Jobs and generated taxes
The report shows that some of that spending also led to significant gains in tax revenue for state and local governments — to the tune of $782 million.
That's an increase from $708 million in 2021 and $738 million in 2019. The 2022 tax revenue provided $520 million for the state and $262 million for local governments.
Tourism last year also played a big role in job creation and sustainability. The report says visitor activity sustained 70,433 direct jobs last year. Roughly 20,846 jobs were also supported by indirect and induced impact from visitor activity. Combined, that's roughly one of every 12 jobs in New Mexico.
Most of those jobs — direct, indirect and induced — came in food and beverage at about 26,492. That was followed by recreation and entertainment —15,871 jobs — and lodging, 15,539.
The acting tourism director for New Mexico, Lancing Adams, said record-breaking visitor spending "further demonstrates the resilience of tourism and its potential as a tool for economic diversification."
"As a state, we must continue to include tourism in strategies for economic development, workforce training, and infrastructure investments so New Mexico can continue to prosper," Adams said.
