BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana saw record tourism numbers last year.

  

According to Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, the state welcomed 51.3 million visitors in 2018. He says that's an increase of 9% over the 47.1 million visitors reported by DK Shifflet, a tourism and travel research company, in April 2017.

  

In a news release Friday, Nungesser said visitors spent $18.8 billion, a 7% increase over 2017.

  

Nungesser says tourism growth has enabled the state to generate more tax revenue. He says the state's new tourism brand, Feed Your Soul, has also helped attract more visitors. He says the promotion has helped convey to the world that "no other state can offer the incredible bounty of food, music, history and culture that Louisiana can."