In 2012, Wareham’s Cranberry Region Visitor Information Center had visitors from 49 states. Utah was the lone state in the union to not have any of its tourist visit the center that year.

Utah hopped on the bandwagon in 2013.

This year, the center had registered visitors from all 50 states.

"The center attracts a lot of diversity," said Bruce Hutchins, the center’s coordinator for the Community and Economic Development Authority.

Visitors came not only from within the United States. More than 500 visitors came from both Canada and, more surprisingly given its distance from Wareham, Germany.

So, what does this mean for Wareham? Hutchins said 25 percent of all visitors went to restaurants, businesses and attractions in the vicinity of Wareham. These folks spent more than $1 million, according to Hutchins.

"If [visitors] are looking for a beach, we send them to Onset," Hutchins said.

Matching recent years' registrations, 30,000 tourists stopped at the center, located in the Route 195 rest area between the Marion and Wareham exits.

"[Thirty thousand visitors] is a very educated estimate. We have the registry book, as well as counters," Hutchins explained.

Hutchins was asked why the stop is so popular.

"We're near the cape, and we're one of the only centers open in the northeast, honestly," said Hutchins. "People have GPSs, but people like reinforcements."

"We have people who think they can make it to Provincetown in an hour."

In 2013, the center featured many local products and displays from local merchants such as the Old Company Store. On several weekends, East Wind Market provided sample chowders to the visiting tourists.

Local events were also promoted, including the jazz and blues festivals, fireworks, and the Cranberry Harvest and Cape Verdean festivals.  The promotion of local events was made possible due to a grant from the Town of Wareham’s Community Events Committee.

In 2013, nearly 100 businesses advertised at the center, and the following helped sponsor the center: A.D. Makepeace Company, A.J. Marks Jeweler, Century 21 Bourne Landing Realty, Eastern Bank, Southcoast Hospitals, Rockland Trust and Wareham Crossing.

Like the businesses and sponsors, the center’s staff is local. Staffers Priscilla Alden, Ed Doucette, Donna Gibbs, Loren Littlefield, Hutchins and Jennifer Foster are all from Wareham and have all worked at the center for more than six years.

Top five facts countdown:

5. 10,848 American families visited the center while 2,563 families came from abroad.

4. Two visiting families were from Japan, and no Romanian families visited.

3. France and England are the only other countries to have over one hundred families visit.

2. Hawaii had more than three times as many visiting families than Idaho.

1. More visiting families came from Switzerland than Delaware.