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Travel Costa Mesa says 2023 visitor spending topped $883 million; council asks for 2024 trend details
Summary
Travel Costa Mesa presented a 2023 tourism impact report showing $883 million in direct visitor spending, an $1.1 billion total economic impact and more than 8,400 jobs supported in Costa Mesa. Council members asked about 2024 and longer-term growth potential.
Paulette Lombardi Freese, president of Travel Costa Mesa (the city's business-improvement-style marketing arm), presented a 2023 tourism economic-impact summary during the council meeting on Tuesday.
Lombardi Freese said the industry generated $883,000,000 in direct visitor spending in calendar year 2023, which translated to a total economic impact of about $1.1 billion and supported roughly 8,400 jobs in the city. "Visitor spending in the year 2023, the tourism industry generated $883,000,000 for the city of Costa Mesa with a total economic impact of $1,100,000,000 over 8,400 jobs here specifically in the city of Costa Mesa and, generated state and local taxes of over $50,000,000," she said.
She described the largest spending categories as food and beverage, retail, lodging, recreation and transportation, and singled out event-driven demand such as the Orange County Fair as a major driver of overnight stays. Lombardi Freese said visitor volume was about 7.6 million people in 2023, a 5.9% increase from the prior year, and direct visitor spending for 2023 was roughly 10% above 2019 levels.
Councilmember Mike Beaulieu asked for 2024 trend information; Lombardi Freese said calendar-year 2024 lodging revenues were about 0.3% higher than 2023 but cautioned that some hotel partners may schedule renovations that could reduce occupancy and transient-occupancy-tax receipts in the near term. "For calendar year 2024, about point 3% up in terms of revenue as we assess what the lodging industry did ... as we move into ... 2025, we are hopeful that we'll be able to move the needle slightly higher than what we did in 2024," she said.
Councilmembers also asked whether tourism in Costa Mesa still has growth potential. Lombardi Freese said there is room to grow and pointed to multi-day events as the most promising way to boost overnight stays and room-night revenue. "One of our best years ever was ... occupancy rate of about 80.5% ... I think our area of opportunity related to getting more revenue from visitors is going to be with events, multi-day events," she said.
The presentation was informational; no council action was required.
