Tourism statistics

Some interesting statistics from the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitor's Bureau:

• Travel and tourism is the second leading business in Pennsylvania, and employs about 29,000 people in Lancaster County.

That's 6% percent of the population!!

• More than 8.3 million visitors came to Lancaster County in 2001

That's 16 tourists for every resident!! By comparison, Los Angeles set a record last year with 2.5 tourists for every resident.

• In 2003, consumers spent nearly $1.2 billion.

That's only $145 per person. Must be a lot of day-trippers.

• More than half of the visitors to Lancaster are adults (35+) travelling without children. They are looking for shopping, local foods, scenic beauty, historic buildings, and learning about local customs and traditions.

We've got beauty and history covered, but there's no way I'm serving scrapple. You can experience that local delicacy elsewhere.

Here's some more factoids about Lancaster and Lititz:

• The anabaptists (Amish and Mennonites) began moving to the area in 1700, escaping religious persecution in Switzerland and Germany.
• Lancaster City was founded in 1718, making it the oldest inland city in America. It was the 10th largest city for many years, and served as the state capitol from 1799-1812.
• Yes, it really is pronounced "LANKister" and not "lanCASTer." Just deal with it.
• Lititz was a closed religious community (meaning only Moravians could live there) until 1855. It is celebrating its 250th anniversary this year.
• The Fulton Opera House, a National Historic Landmark, is the oldest continuously-operated theater in the U.S., opening in 1852.
• In addition to Milton Hershey, Frank Woolworth got his start in Lancaster, setting up his first five-and-dime.
• The Lancaster Intelligencer-Journal began publication in 1794. The Lancaster New Era is one of the few afternoon papers still published in the U.S.
• According to the 2000 census, there are 100 females to every 91.4 males in Lancaster.
• The conestoga wagon was invented in Lancaster. The driver's seat was put on the left side, which became the de facto standard for all vehicles to follow.
• "Stogie" originally referred to the cigars favored by the conestoga wagon teamsters; it has since become slang for any cigar.
• There are 28 covered bridges in Lancaster county, more than any other county in Pennsylvania. Legend has it the bridges were covered because the water would spook the horses, but it was probably done just to protect the bridge truss from the elements.
• The original "gateway to the west" was Wright's Ferry, in Lancaster. St Louis later usurped the title, but they built a really cool monument, so it's okay.
• Lancaster farmland is considered to be the most productive non-irrigated soil in the world.
• The last Democratic president that Lancaster county voted for was James Buchanan in 1856, and that was only because he was a native son. (In fact, he was the only president from Pennsylvania.)
• On average, Lancaster county has less than 500 residents per square mile. For comparison, Los Angeles has 7,900 and New York City has 27,000!
• Lancaster has an average rainfall of 43 inches, and an average snowfall of 31 inches. During winter, about 50% of the days are sunny; in summer, about 70%.
• There are seven colleges and universities in Lancaster: Elizabethtown College, Franklin and Marshall College, Harrisburg Area Community College, Lancaster Bible College, Lancaster Theological Seminary, Millersville University of Pennsylvania, and Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology.
• Hex signs, the star-like symbols on barns, have nothing to do with magic or superstition; they are just decoration. Note that the Amish do not decorate their homes and so do not use hex signs.
• Despite recent, well-publicized events, the crime rate in Lititz is shockingly low. In 2002, the "crime index" was 81.8 while the US average was 328, New York was 3,100, Los Angeles was 4,986, and St Louis (new gateway to the west) was 14,285!

[If you would like to see a picture here, please tell Dawn to send me one.]