Travel is essential to San Diego's regional economy

San Diego's travel and tourism industry is crucial to our region's economic health and future prosperity. As the second-largest sector, it has a significant influence throughout the region, benefiting businesses and residents, and improving our quality of life.

In 2022, San Diego welcomed more than 28 million visitors, which led to $13.6 billion in visitor spending across our hotels, renowned cultural institutions, world-class attractions, small businesses, restaurants and bars. And through visitor spending, the tourism industry generated more than $360 million towards San Diego County's Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) revenues, supporting critical local services such as police, fire, and emergency responders. Moreover, the revenue generated helps lower the average tax burden on households in the county by a few hundred dollars annually.

The tourism industry is also a major employer in San Diego County. Last year, the industry witnessed a resurgence in job opportunities, with 214,000 San Diegans employed in tourism-related professional fields. And with international travel resuming, we expect the sector to continue its positive growth and present a wide range of career opportunities for locals.

As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of National Travel and Tourism Week, we recognize the present and future impact of travel in San Diego and take great pride in acknowledging all the positive contributions the travel and tourism industry makes to our city.

The Importance of Business and International Travel

Throughout San Diego County in 2022, business travel rebounded to 85% of pre-pandemic levels, and international inbound spending continued to recover strongly. Current forecasts see a full and sustained recovery in business travel some time in the second half of 2024 while international is expected to fully recover by 2025..

The Power of Tourism

Each year we join the U.S. Travel Association in celebrating National Travel & Tourism Week (NTTW), as tourism professionals in the United States unite to celebrate the value travel holds for the economy, businesses and travel-related employment across the nation. We invite you to learn more about why travel matters to San Diego on this site and how you can become an advocate for the industry in your local community.

Below you fill find useful information to help tell the San Diego tourism story: Fact sheets, social media assets, suggested copy, and infographics that help share the impact tourism has on the San Diego region.

San Diego Tourism General Facts (PDF)
San Diego Tourism Fast Facts (PDF)
NTTW 2023 Social Media Share Assets and Suggested Copy