A Beautiful Return on Creativity: How Arts and Culture Strengthen Tourism in St. Lucie County
by Linda Kloorfain
When people think about tourism in St. Lucie County, beaches, fishing, boating, and spring training often come to mind. Those attractions are important, but they are only part of the story.
Arts and culture give a destination its personality.
A beach may attract someone for a day. A concert, museum, art walk, theater production or heritage trail can persuade that visitor to stay for dinner, book another night and return for another trip. That additional activity supports restaurants, hotels, shops, transportation providers, artists and other local businesses.
In other words, arts and culture are not simply community amenities. They are part of St. Lucie County’s tourism infrastructure.
Culture Makes St. Lucie Memorable
Travelers can find beaches throughout Florida. What they cannot find everywhere is St. Lucie County’s specific collection of stories, artists and cultural experiences.
Visitors can explore the legacy of the Florida Highwaymen, learn about author Zora Neale Hurston’s years in Fort Pierce, visit the A.E. Backus Museum and Gallery, attend a performance at the historic Sunrise Theatre, discover the Peacock Arts District or experience local galleries, public art, festivals and live performances. Visit St. Lucie actively promotes these cultural assets as part of the county’s visitor experience.
In 2026, the county’s cultural tourism offerings expanded further with free, mobile-friendly heritage trails celebrating the Florida Highwaymen and Zora Neale Hurston. Public art installations, including The Heart in Port St. Lucie, are also being presented as visitor attractions and recognizable community landmarks.
These experiences give visitors something valuable: a sense of place. They help St. Lucie County stand apart from destinations that offer sunshine but little identity.
Cultural Visitors Spend Money Beyond the Event
The economic value of cultural tourism extends well beyond admission tickets.
Americans for the Arts found that attendees at nonprofit arts and cultural events spend an average of $38.46 per person, per event, beyond the cost of admission. That spending includes meals, transportation, parking, shopping, child care and other purchases.
The study also found that 30.1 percent of arts attendees traveled from outside the county where the event took place. Those visitors spent an average of $60.57 per person, compared with $29.77 spent by local attendees. Among those visitors, 77 percent said the cultural event was the primary reason for their trip.
Those are national findings, not a measurement of St. Lucie County alone. However, they demonstrate why cultural programming matters to tourism planning. When an event attracts visitors from outside the area, the financial impact spreads through the community.
The theater ticket may start the transaction. Dinner, drinks, shopping and lodging are where the economic ripple gets interesting.
Tourism Is Already Big Business in St. Lucie County
St. Lucie County’s published visitor tracking and economic impact report found that the county attracted approximately 1,012,800 visitors in 2023.
Those visitors spent an estimated $703,753,800 on accommodations, restaurants, groceries, transportation, attractions, entertainment and shopping.
Tourism also supported approximately 8,520 local jobs and generated more than $287.2 million in wages and salaries during fiscal year 2023.
Arts and culture help expand that impact. They provide reasons for visitors to move beyond the beach, explore downtown areas, attend evening events and spend money with locally owned businesses.
A strong cultural calendar can also help during slower tourism periods. Performances, exhibitions, markets, workshops and festivals are not dependent on perfect beach weather. That makes culture a valuable tool for creating year-round visitor activity.
How Tourism Generates Tax Dollars
Tourism contributes to public revenue in several ways.
St. Lucie County collects a 5 percent Tourist Development Tax on accommodations rented for six months or less. This includes hotels, vacation rentals, and other short-term lodging.
In 2023, visitor accommodations generated approximately $6.39 million in Tourist Development Tax collections.
Those funds are legally designated for tourism-related purposes. St. Lucie County allocates portions of the tax to the operation, maintenance, and financing of Clover Park, tourism promotion, and certain tourism-related capital facilities.
Visitors also generate sales tax revenue when they dine in restaurants, purchase merchandise and make other taxable purchases. Florida’s general sales tax rate is 6 percent, and St. Lucie County currently has a 1 percent discretionary sales surtax. The local surtax is separate from the additional Tourist Development Tax charged on short-term lodging.
Not every tax dollar collected from a visitor goes directly into the county’s general fund. Some revenue goes to the state, and some local tourism revenue is restricted to specific purposes. Still, the overall public benefit is substantial.
The county’s 2023 economic impact report estimated that visitors produced a net tax benefit of approximately $9.07 million for St. Lucie County government after accounting for the cost of providing services to visitors.
The same report estimated that visitor-generated revenue saved local households approximately $406 per year in taxes.
Tourism is not simply people arriving, taking photographs, and clogging the good parking spaces. Properly developed tourism helps pay bills.
Investing in Culture Is Investing in Economic Development
Supporting arts and culture does not mean choosing creativity over economic growth. Creativity is part of economic growth.
A successful cultural tourism strategy requires coordination among artists, cultural organizations, tourism officials, hotels, restaurants, municipalities and local businesses. Events should be marketed beyond the immediate community. Performances and exhibitions can be packaged with dining, lodging and shopping opportunities. Heritage trails and public art should be connected to nearby businesses and promoted as part of a complete visitor itinerary.
The goal is not simply to attract more people. It is to give visitors more reasons to stay longer, explore more of the county and spend more money locally.
St. Lucie County already has the stories, talent and cultural heritage. The opportunity is to present those assets as essential parts of the destination.
Arts and culture do not compete with tourism. They complete it.
