Industry Research

The San Diego visitor industry is the third largest industry in the county, and therefore critical to the region's economy supporting businesses and jobs. This research presented here is intended to help you plan and manage your business. We will update this information periodically so please check back again. Email requests or questions regarding any of the research below to the Planning and Research Department at research@sandiego.org.

Tourism Industry

• The visitor industry employs 184,000 San Diegans - 13% of the jobs in the county.
• Visitors spend nearly $10.4 billion annually at San Diego businesses and produce $267 million in transient occupancy tax revenues. 
• San Diego hosts more than 34.9 million visitors each year, and is a top U.S. travel destination.
• The industry generates more than $743 million annually in state and local taxes.

For more of the facts about the industry, see General Facts and Fast Facts

View 10 years of San Diego County TOT Collections Trend FY16 for cities in San Diego County.

Visitor Profile

The San Diego Visitor Profile Study is conducted every other year to track the characteristics of the market and the traveler. Of the 34.9 million total visitors, about half (17.4 million) stay overnight in a hotel, a private home, or other. The details of all overnight visitors, traveling for both leisure and business, is available to the public here.

It is possible to purchase further detail from the study to support your marketing efforts given that the study sample is large enough for your needs and the questions are relevant.

Industry Performance

• 2017 San Diego County Visitor Industry Summary by Month - through April 2017
  
• 2016 San Diego County Visitor Industry Summary by Month
• An overview of industry performance, including visitors, spending, attraction attendance, air arrivals, hotel performance and other key industry metrics.
• San Diego Visitor Industry Summary (Annual)
• San Diego County Travel Forecast - Updated December 2016

Planning Resources

• San Diego International Airport Information - 2016 SAN Overview, 2016 SAN Route Map
  • View the top 150 domestic markets served, and direct and connecting service to international destinations. For specific flight schedule information, go to www.SAN.org.
• Hotels in development or under construction - Development Report
   

State and National Travel Research

• State of California Industry Research
• U.S. Travel Association Industry Research
• Department of Commerce, OTTI Research - International Visitation to the U.S.
  
  

San Diego Tourism Authority Information

• SDTA Financials, Performance and the Annual Report