Recently the Central European Private Aviation Association released first quarter private jet usage figures for its member countries. While we may think of places like Palm Beach and Cannes when we think of private jets, and the money they bring, the CEPA statistics highlight the importance of private jet travelers for all countries.

Keeping in mind spend from a single private jet party averages $69,000 (excluding fuel, catering and landing fees) for hotels, land transfers, dining, shopping, touring, meeting facilities, just in the first three months the 2,120 private jets arriving in Poland contributed $146 million to the economy.

To put this in perspective, the government reports average spend is $398 per capita for visitors. This means it would take 366,834 ‘normal’ visitors to equal the economic benefit of the 2,120 general aviation flights. Looking at it another way, it would take more commercial airline flights – 2,450 with 150 passengers on board each flight – to equal the contribution of the private jet market.

All together, private jets brought over $600 million in economic benefits to Central Europe during the period. Below is the economic contribution of private jet users during Q1 2014 for other countries in the group. Keep in mind for most of these places, the main tourism season is summer, so the best is yet to come:

Poland $146 million

Czech Republic $126 million

Slovakia $58 million

Serbia and Montenegro $52 million

Romania $51 million

Croatia $40 million

Hungary $35 million

Slovenia $30 million

Bulgaria $23 million

Lithuania $23 million

Latvia $22 million

Estonia $16 million