Syracuse June music festivals help generate $2 million in visitor spending, Visit Syracuse says

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The New York State Blues Festival and Syracuse Jazz Fest, in partnership with Visit Syracuse, increased visitor spending in Onondaga County by nearly $2 million this past June, Visit Syracuse reported on Wednesday.

The organization’s targeted digital and streaming-service advertising campaign for the NYS Blues Festival at the New York State Fairgrounds helped bring in people who traveled an average distance of 129 miles. Visitors came from as far away as California, Canada, and Brazil, per the Visit Syracuse announcement.

Visit Syracuse also cited data recently compiled by Rove, a travel and tourism data and analytics company, as indicating June 17 was the most popular arrival date for visitors to Onondaga County in the month of June. It was the same day that Buddy Guy, headliner for the New York State Blues Festival, took the stage.

One week later, Syracuse Jazz Fest attracted about 20,000 people to downtown Syracuse. Visitors traveled from five countries and 14 states. Visit Syracuse again cited Rove data as indicating these visitors spent on average 61.5 hours in the county, including 22 hours in downtown Syracuse.

During these two weeks in the Finger Lakes region, Onondaga County was the most visited county based on a sample set of 30,000 tourists. Nearly $2 million from tourists boosted the economy through spending on hotel rooms, food and beverage, gas, and shopping expenditures.