Happening in California 31.3
Welcome to Happening in California, a brief look at political news, insights, and analysis of the world’s fifth-largest economy.
I grew up on the north shore of Lake Tahoe. My jobs in high school were typical of a touristy area — working on the ski hill selling lift tickets, parking cars at hotels, and flipping burgers at the beach. Two lessons stuck with me: the importance of tourism for the local economy and that lifeguards got all the dates.
While the latter seemed to matter more at the time, the significance of tourism as an economic driver has only grown. The pandemic devastated the tourism industry, but here in California a unique public-private partnership is helping weather the blow and leading the comeback. Read how ...
Cheers,
Tom Ross | President and CEO | Swing Strategies
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Why Travel Matters: California is the nation’s No. 1 travel destination — infusing $144.9 billion into the state’s economy in 2019.
Before the pandemic, tourism helped generate $12.2 billion in local and state tax revenue and supported 1.2 million jobs for Californians.
Little Known Fact ... tourism is California’s BIGGEST export.
That’s right, international travelers to California spent $28.3 billion in 2019 — making tourism the state’s largest export. It's even bigger than California's venerated agricultural industry that ranks as the nation’s top ag export earning state.
Then, Covid-19 Happened: The pandemic ravaged California’s tourism economy …
Erasing $85.9 billion in visitor spending
Cutting in half California’s travel-related tax collections
Resulting in more than one-third of the lost jobs in California during 2020
… but California’s travel industry has proven its resilience before.
Leading the Comeback: Created with bipartisan support, Visit California was the nation’s first public-private partnership devoted to promoting state tourism.
Visit California’s advertising campaigns, combined with the marketing efforts of dozens of local Convention and Visitor Bureaus (CVBs), have driven record-setting demand for California as a travel destination. And even in the face of devastating wildfires and other headline grabbing disasters, tourism in California keeps bouncing back.
In fact, California’s travel industry has practically perfected the comeback. Following the Great Recession, it took two years less time for the travel industry to recover compared to the rest of the economy.
Obstacles in the Way: The return of tourism in California cannot be taken for granted. Issues like California’s homelessness crisis, natural disasters, and potential power blackouts can tarnish the California brand and reduce market share.
The Takeaway: Post-pandemic, tourism will continue to be an essential part of California’s economy with renewed record-setting growth just around the corner. But it won’t happen on its own.
A united travel industry, local CVBs, and Visit California will play a crucial role in bringing visitors back to the Golden State.
We’ve had the pleasure of working with Visit California, local CVBs, and tourism-focused associations and businesses since 2007. Give us a ring or shoot us an email if you’d like to chat about what’s happening in California.