WASHINGTON, D.C. – It’s hard to believe but, according to personal finance website WalletHub, Louisiana is not even in the top half of states that will suffer economic damage because of the effect of social distancing on its tourism industry.
Louisiana ranks 27th in WalletHub’s new report on the States Hit Hardest by COVID-19’s Impact on Tourism. Overall, the website says declining travel is threatening to wipe out 5.9 million U.S. jobs by the end of April.
To identify the states where tourism is most affected by COVID-19, WalletHub said it compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 10 key metrics: share of tourism-generated GDP, share of tourism-related businesses, highest tourism spending per capita, etc. States like Hawaii, Nevada and even Vermont ranked much higher than Louisiana in many categories. The one area in which Louisiana ranked in the top five, unfortunately, is “highest default probability on loans of businesses tourism industry.”
| States with Most Impacted Tourism Industry    | States with Least Impacted Tourism Industry |
| 1. Hawaii | 42. North Dakota |
| 2. Montana | 43. South Dakota |
| 3. Nevada | 44. Mississippi |
| 4. Vermont | 45. Indiana |
| 5. Massachusetts | 46. Wisconsin |
| 6. Florida | 47. Alabama |
| 7. New Hampshire | 48. Nebraska |
| 8. District of Columbia | 49. Oklahoma |
| 9. New York | 50. Iowa |
| 10. California | 51. Arkansas |
Key Stats from WalletHub:
- New York has the highest share of businesses in travel and tourism-related food industries, 12.19 percent, which is 1.8 times higher than in Utah, the lowest at 6.89 percent.
 - Nevada has the highest share of employment in travel and tourism-related accommodations industries, 16.09 percent, which is 23 times higher than in Ohio, the lowest at 0.70 percent.
 - The District of Columbia has the highest share of travel and tourism consumer spending, $19,869, which is 10.8 times higher than in Ohio, the state with the lowest at $1,847.
 - Connecticut has the highest travel spending per travel employee, $168,811, which is 2.2 times higher than in Mississippi, the state with the lowest at $76,458.
 - The District of Columbia has the highest default probability on loans of businesses in the travel and tourism-related accommodations industry, 3.85 percent, which is 1.8 times higher than in Alaska, the state with the lowest at 2.17 percent.
To view the full report, visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-hit-hardest-by-covid-impact-on-tourism/72974/
