County: Tourism continues to show signs of growth

Bucks County's $877 million tourism industry continued to show signs of growth in the first quarter of 2014, with hotels renting rooms and generating revenues by an increase of around 10 percent, the county announced Tuesday.

Much of the county's tourism industry is buoyed by weddings, conferences and more recently youth sports tournaments.

Visit Bucks County, the county's tourism agency, also announced that its tourism grant program has reached a new milestone of awarding $2 million to various organizations that draw tourists. For instance, this spring the agency gave $25,000 each to the Friends of Washington Crossing Park in Upper Makefield and the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown.

The grant money, which the county has handed out since 2008, is generated through the county's 3 percent lodging tax of rooms rented in hotels, motels or a bed and breakfast. Tourism in Bucks brings in $117 million in tax revenue and supports more than 11,000 jobs.