ANDERSON — The slot machines in Las Vegas didn’t cash in quite like they used to and the shores of Hawaii felt the ripple effect of the fledgling American economy.

When the economy took a nose-dive in 2008, tourism across the country seemed to follow, seeing steep declines as Americans pinched pennies.

But while the rest of America’s tourist destinations seemed to take a hit, Anderson and Madison County saw a sharp increase in tourism dollars.

Between 2007 and 2008, the county saw an additional $61 million in total tourism dollars.

Largely attributed to the June 2008 opening of the Hoosier Park casino, Madison County saw $236 million in tourism dollars overall.

A July 2009 study ordered by the Anderson/Madison County Visitors and Convention Bureau outlined the change in local tourism from 2007 to 2008, finding that Hoosier Park’s new casino brought a surge in local tourism.

The report, compiled by Certec Inc. of Kentucky, detailed the impact of local tourism on tax revenue, job creation and the local economy.

It showed that without Hoosier Park’s influence, Madison County saw a $6 million increase in tourism over the previous year.

2008 also saw an increase in local jobs attributed to the tourism industry, in spite of climbing unemployment rates.

“A total of 3,710 jobs in Madison County resulted from the industry in 2008 — an increase of 1,140 jobs,” the report noted.

The report’s findings came as little surprise to Greg Graham, Anderson’s chairman of the Board of Public Works.

“The impact of Hoosier Park on Anderson is huge,” Graham said. “Not only do they employ close to 1,000 people, (but) they’ve made Anderson a destination.”

Mark Lamey, a member and former president of the Visitors and Convention Bureau, said the casino’s influence on tourism is unquestionable. Lamey said the bureau wanted concrete figures for the influence of the casino. “We wanted to see the impact of the casino on tourism dollars,” he added.

The impact is significant. Without the casino, the report indicates that Anderson’s 2008 tourism dollars for direct expenditures totaled $127.2 million. About $109 million in tourism is directly attributed to the casino.

Direct expenditures are monies collected when a tourist buys a souvenir, stays in a hotel or dines at a local restaurant.