Travel Helps Power the Economy
San Diego's travel and tourism industry is crucial to our region's economic health and future prosperity. As the region's second-largest sector, it has a significant influence throughout the region, benefiting businesses and residents and improving our quality of life.
In 2023, San Diego welcomed 31.8 million visitors, which led to $14.3 billion in visitor spending across our hotels, renowned cultural institutions, world-class attractions, small businesses, restaurants, and bars. In fiscal year 2023, the tourism industry generated $418 million towards San Diego County's Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) revenues through visitor spending, supporting critical local services such as police, fire, and emergency responders. Moreover, it is estimated that the revenue generated helps lower the average tax burden on households in the county by nearly $1,000 annually.
The tourism industry is also a major employer in San Diego County; one in eight San Diego jobs are in tourism-related fields. With international travel resuming, we expect the sector to continue to drive positive growth and present a wide range of career opportunities for locals.
As we celebrate National Travel and Tourism Week and the 70th anniversary of the San Diego Tourism Authority, 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.
In 2023, business travel recovered largely to pre-pandemic levels, and international inbound spending continued to recover strongly. Current forecasts see a full and sustained recovery in business travel sometime in 2024, while international traveler arrivals to San Diego are expected to fully recover by 2025.
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.
