At its 70th annual meeting held November 13 at the newly renovated Jacobs Music Center, the San Diego Tourism Authority announced some record numbers for fiscal 2024.
An estimated 32 million visitors (up 2 million from 2023) shelled out $14.6 billion in direct spending, according to the SDTA. Average hotel occupancy was 73% and hotel guests generated $310 million in citywide transient occupancy tax.
Cha-ching.
The tourism industry is doing something right. To put a human face on visitor spending, The San Diego Sun recently spent time downtown asking visitors where they directed their own dollars that went into our $14-billion-plus super fund.
Kris Dombroski hails from Michigan. She came to town for the 2024 Susan J Komen 3-Day (November 15-17), which concluded at Waterfront Park.
“The best thing that brings me to San Diego every year is the breast cancer three-day walk,” Dombroski, 60, says. “That’s why I’m here…to walk 60 miles on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.”
Bostonians Mari and Joe Hickey are here to visit their daughter, who’s in the Navy.
Mari says their daughter is stationed in National City, so they booked a stay in San Diego.
“It’s close to the Naval Base, so we wanted to stay close to her,” Joe says. “We went to eat at The Fish Market. Tomorrow, we’re going to check out the zoo.”
Mexican tourist Christian Sereno wanted to see some nautical history, specifically an aircraft carrier converted to a museum and the world’s oldest active sailing ship.
“The USS Midway is the best thing to see,” Sereno, 33, says. “We were on our way to see the USS Midway and saw that [the Star of India] was open.”
Downtown’s food-and-beverage scene was the major draw for Redwood City (Northern California) visitor Cameron DelRosso.
“My friends and I have been doing a lot of bar hopping,” DelRosso, 26, says. “We’ve also been going out to a lot of restaurants. We went to Callie [in East Village] – great food, good bar scene as well. Today, we’re going to False Idol, a cool tiki bar in Little Italy.”
Chicagoan Tatiana Thomas is a frequent guest in San Diego and raves about Little Italy.
“Little Italy is probably one of my favorite places to get food,” Thomas, 30, says. “We really come for work, but I choose to come here because I like the weather. This is my friend’s first time here, so I’m showing her around”
Sidra Purcell, 38, is from Philadelphia and says her first visit to San Diego will not be her last.
“I love the water, the atmosphere – everyone seems so calm,” she says. “I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh. It’s so peaceful,’ down to the puppies! We’re walking past dogs, and they’re not barking at you. This is one of my favorite places now; I have to keep coming back.” SDSun
