Community leaders also know how important cultural resources are in the courtship between communities and businesses and workers that are looking for homes. Cultural tourism is especially big business in Massachusetts. Tourism is the state's third largest industry, and the state's cultural assets are among its strongest drawing cards. Our theaters, concert halls and museums attract thousands of visitors each year to our city. In addition to improving the quality of life, this cultural vibrancy contributes in a significant way to Boston's economy through jobs, taxes and spending.
Visitors are also crucial to the economy of western Massachusetts.
A quarter of a million people a year visit the Rockwell Museum. The new economic impact study clearly demonstrates cultural programs in Massachusetts provide thousands of jobs, produce millions of dollars in tax revenues, attract millions of visitors and help create an environment where highly educated people want to work and live. For anyone interested in the bottom line, the numbers are impossible to ignore. Still, there are some people who don't need statistics to tell them what they already know. People like Maxon Chaperon of Dorchester, who owns the cab he drives and holds a half interest in another.