San Diego International Airport Authority CEO Kimberly Becker said the facility was already seeing a 12% increase in passenger volumes for the year compared to this time in 2022.
She said those numbers would only grow after the Memorial Day weekend.
And this travel season looks to be the busiest since 2019. San Diego Tourism Authority President and CEO Julie Coker said San Diego was already rebounding strongly; the region had a great 2022.
San Diego’s tourism rebound is especially impressive when you look at it against the backdrop of the pandemic. Coker said the region lost 20 years of gains in the tourism industry.
But those dark days are now in the rearview mirror.
“We welcomed over 28 million visitors to the destination, and those visitors spent $13.6 billion," Coker said.
San Diego’s travel and tourism business is recovering faster and stronger than California’s two other large metro areas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Coker said there were a number of reasons.
“Our convention business and our meeting business has come back sooner and faster. ... But, most importantly, our leisure visitor is back. We do much better with domestic leisure 365 days a year than San Francisco or Los Angeles does. ... The other I would say is those two destinations are reliant more on the Asian traveler and that business has not come back to the level that it was pre-pandemic," she said.
Tourism is second only to the military in money generated for San Diego County’s economy. Visitors support about 215,000 jobs here.
Coker said there was another reason why San Diego is a more attractive place to visit than those cities to the north.
“We have a lot more authentic, unique experiences, and that’s what visitors are looking for, to live like a local when they come to a destination," Coker said.
She went on to say that the Tourism Authority is expecting a busy summer season, certainly the busiest since before the pandemic.
“What we’ve seen in first quarter and what we’re looking to forecast for the balance of the year, we definitely expect a busy summer. Our Convention Center is full throughout the year," Coker said.
