San Diego Celebrates National Tourism Week
By Joanne DiBona, dibona@sdcvb.org
May has traditionally been the month to celebrate good things—be it May Day, Mother’s Day, or the coming of summer.
This May, the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau (ConVis) has an additional reason to celebrate, as we will join the rest of the nation in observance of National Tourism Week, May 8-15. Above all, this annual nationwide event gives the visitor industry an opportunity to trumpet the significant social, cultural and economic benefits generated by tour and travel locally, nationally and globally.
Just how big are these benefits?
Travel and tourism—encompassing transportation, catering, accommodations, recreation and services for travelers—is actually the world’s largest industry and generator of jobs.
Each day in the US, tourists spend $1.4 billion, which translates to $60 million an hour, $1 million a minute and $17 thousand a second, according to the Travel Industry Association of America.
As we celebrate with our visitor industry counterparts across the nation this coming week, we will, at the same time, continue our own year-long observance of ConVis’ 50th anniversary. This major milestone gives us an opportunity to take a retrospective look at the phenomenal development of San Diego’s visitor industry over the decades and the pivotal role ConVis has played and continues to play in this remarkable evolution.
When the first ConVis office opened its doors back in 1954, the staff started out with a big mission. . .to market San Diego as the nation’s premiere vacation and convention destination. Much has changed over the past five decades, but one thing has remained constant—the tireless dedication of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau to aggressively market San Diego as a premiere convention and leisure travel destination.
Though few of us were around in 1954 to know what San Diego’s infrastructure offered the visitor back then, many of us can surely recall the dramatic development of the visitor industry over the past twenty years. In the early ‘80s, we watched the Gaslamp Quarter go through a metamorphosis, fueled by the construction of Horton Plaza in what were then several blighted blocks in the heart of downtown.
Then came the construction of the San Diego Convention Center, followed by new hotel development not only in the downtown area, but all across San Diego County. LEGOLAND was built, adding to the palette of attractions we could offer visitors, and the San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld continued to add new attractions to their parks. Lindbergh Field underwent a renovation, allowing it to better service millions of passengers who pass through the turnstiles each year.
Spas, golf courses, lavish new casino resorts, and exclusive shopping malls have all added to the overall visitor infrastructure. From Oceanside to Chula Vista to Escondido to Julian, communities throughout the County began to recognize the importance of the visitor dollar to the local economy. Small businesses of all kinds were formed to service both the leisure traveler and the convention delegate. Local beautification projects, aimed at providing a pleasant experience for the visitor, also enriched the quality of life of locals as well.
These past few years saw even more dramatic change. The recent opening of PETCO PARK and the adjacent Omni Hotel, the construction of the second tower of the San Diego Hyatt Regency, and the Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum scheduled to open in June are just some examples of new projects that add immeasurably to San Diego’s overall appeal as a first class visitor destination.
In fact, the renaissance of downtown was the subject of the 11th Annual San Diego Hospitality Industry Outlook breakfast held this morning in the OMNI Hotel as part of our National Tourism Week observance. Industry leaders met to discuss the ongoing renaissance of San Diego’s revitalized and dynamic Downtown. The recent explosion in commercial and residential development in center city has focused renewed interest and attention on San Diego’s urban core as a travel, entertainment and dining destination.
Obviously, it’s no secret that the visitor industry has developed into a multi-billion dollar business for San Diego—it is the third largest industry behind manufacturing and the military. Last year, San Diego welcomed 26.4 million visitors, who poured more than $5.3 billion into the County’s economy. Some 110,000 San Diegans throughout the region worked in fields directly related to the visitor industry, including lodging, food service, attractions and transportation.
And there is more icing on the cake. Visitors to San Diego generated a total of $108 million in Transient Occupany Tax (T.O.T) in fiscal year 2003 for the City of San Diego alone ($138 million countywide).
Most San Diegans are unaware of the T.O.T or its significance on their lives, because it is, after all, paid for by visitors who spend the night in one of the region’s hotels or motels. So what happens to these tax dollars, paid by tourists and convention delegates--not local San Diego taxpayers?
In the City of San Diego, a significant portion of the T.O.T is used to supplement the City’s General Fund and underwrite basic municipal services, such as road repair and park maintenance. These revenues also help fund cultural events, arts organizations and community-based programs throughout the city. In addition, the TOT provides funding to hire police officers for our neighborhoods, train firefighters and promote economic development.
And it doesn’t stop there. The T.O.T helps to maintain many of the amenities that are enjoyed not only by tourists, but also by San Diego area residents, such as Balboa Park, Mission Bay Park, and the San Diego Trolley. The T.O.T is also the source of funding for the expansion of San Diego’s enormously successful Convention Center, PETCO Park and the proposed central library.
National Tourism Week may just seem like media hype to some, but to those of us who know the value of our cherished visitors—be they tourists or convention delegates--it becomes yet another reason to celebrate our good fortune.
It also gives all of us at the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau pause to reflect on the tremendous strides this industry has made over the past fifty years and the important role our bureau has played in this dramatic evolution. Not only do we live in a destination so popular with visitors from around the world, but those same visitors also provide us with revenues needed to support our exceptional quality of life.
Now that’s something to celebrate!
