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Visit Tri Cities says events, Ironman helped drive $630 million in visitor spending in 2024
Summary
Visit Tri Cities presented its 2024 annual report to the West Richland City Council, saying events such as Ironman 70.3 and convention bookings produced sustained increases in hotel revenue, visits and earned media.
Visit Tri Cities CEO Kevin Lewis told the West Richland City Council on April 15 that the destination marketing organization’s work helped generate roughly $630 million in visitor spending in 2024 and produced notable gains in hotel revenues and media coverage.
Lewis said Visit Tri Cities is a 501(c)(6) organization funded mainly by a tourism performance assessment, a one-percent portion of lodging tax contracts from partner cities, and corporate sponsorships. “We have 3 real sources of funding,” Lewis said, describing the mix as about 70% from the assessment, about 20% from city lodging-tax contracts and roughly 10% from sponsorships.
That funding supported marketing, convention and sports development that, Lewis said, produced measurable returns. He said Visit Tri Cities’ report shows about 4.4 million trips to the destination in 2024, roughly 5,900 tourism and hospitality jobs, and about $77 million in taxes arising from visitor spending. Lewis credited signature events such as the Ironman 70.3 triathlon, which he said brought between $7 million and $7.5 million to the area and attracted competitors from 45 states and 20 countries.
Why it matters: The presentation framed tourism promotion as an economic-development tool for the Tri Cities and for West Richland, with visitor dollars supporting local businesses, raising hotel rates on event weekends and producing media exposure that Lewis said returns more than $300 for every $1 spent on certain digital ad campaigns.
Council members did not ask follow-up questions after the presentation. Lewis said he was available for questions and thanked the council for West Richland’s ongoing support.
Details from the presentation: Lewis reported a 161% increase in positive media coverage tied to events, a 342-to-1 return on tracked digital ad investment for certain campaigns, and a 48% jump in average daily hotel rate for the Ironman weekend year-over-year. He also said Visit Tri Cities booked 68 group events in 2024 that brought roughly 32,000 visitors and about $3.36 million in visitor spending, and that short-term rentals accounted for an estimated 17% of Ironman athlete accommodations in the survey cited.
Ending: Lewis closed by thanking West Richland staff and volunteers and inviting council members to contact Visit Tri Cities with questions about marketing, hotel development or event recruitment.
