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Visit Pensacola reports record TDT collections, 2.5M visitors and $1.3B in direct spending for 2024
Summary
Visit Pensacola presented its annual report showing roughly 2.5 million visitors to Escambia County in 2024, record tourist-development-tax collections of about $22 million, nearly $1.3 billion in direct visitor spending and a total economic impact exceeding $2 billion.
Visit Pensacola presented its fiscal‑year 2024 annual report to the Tourist Development Council on Feb. 18, reporting increases in visitation, lodging and taxable collections.
Darren (representing Visit Pensacola) told the council the county attracted approximately 2.5 million visitors in the last fiscal year and generated roughly 2.5 million paid room nights. The organization reported record TDT collections of about $22 million in 2024, direct visitor spending of about $1.3 billion and a total economic impact exceeding $2 billion. The presenter also said visitor‑generated local tax revenue totaled about $65 million and that the tourism sector supports an estimated 18,700 jobs in the county.
Visit Pensacola highlighted digital and earned‑media campaign metrics: website users exceeded 3.8 million (up 34%), the organization produced more than 400 partner‑related content items, and a layered marketing campaign they described as “The Way to Beach” produced trackable results linked to an estimated 265,000 room nights and more than 64,000 travelers exposed to campaign messaging. The agency also cited a spike in earned media and social engagement related to an unusual snow event earlier in the year; that coverage generated millions of impressions and an estimated earned‑media value reported by Visit Pensacola.
Staff and council members discussed campaign conversions, how Visit Pensacola tracks room‑night results and the importance of partnering on direct‑flight markets and meeting/convention leads. The Visit Pensacola representative said the organization booked 12 leads representing about $111 million in potential economic impact for future events and that it hosted multiple press trips and media placements to boost exposure.
Council members thanked Visit Pensacola for the presentation and asked technical questions about how web conversions are counted and how the organization verifies its room‑night estimates. No formal action was taken; the presentation served as the annual report back to the council.
