Orange County: Tourism Shines On SoCal's Playground

Tourism remains on the rise in Orange County, according to a recent report released by the Orange County Visitors Association. Tourism has continued to grow in the OC area since 2010, with visitors to the area last year spending $13 billion, according to a survey released Wednesday.

The number of tourists increased 1.9 percent last year over 2015 and spending jumped up 6.6 percent in the same time period, according to the Orange County Visitors Association.

The $13 billion spent by tourists generated a total of $20.5 billion in business sales, according to the survey.
Tourism generated $2.4 billion in tax revenue, including about $1.1 billion in state and local taxes.

The tourism was also responsible for generating 175,846 jobs in the county last year with income of those workers totaling $7.2 billion.

About 8 percent of all jobs in the county had a link to tourism, according to the study.

International tourism in the region also increased 3.9 percent last year, compared with 2015. The rate of Chinese tourists continues to increase, ranking second in the volume of visitors and spending last year.
In 2011, 42.9 million tourists traveled to Orange County, with successive yearly increases bringing the number to 43.8 million, 44.4 million, 46.2 million, 47.3 million and, last year, to 48.2 million.

Spending has also increased, from $10.1 billion in 2011 to $12.2 billion in 2015 and $13 billion last year.
Demand for hotels and motels has outpaced supply since 2012, the survey found.

"On average, demand has expanded 2.9 percent per year since 2012, compared with 1.1 percent per year in supply growth," according to the study. "After several years of faster demand growth, supply is responding. In 2016, the supply of room-nights rose 2.8 percent, slightly faster than demand at 2.3 percent. With more supply coming online, the occupancy rate ticked down to 78.2 percent in 2016, from 78.6 percent a year earlier."

Orange County tourism is growing faster than on the state level. Since 2010, the annual rate has been 5 percent, compared with the state's 3.9 percent.

Looking for a job in Orange County? Consider looking to a field in tourism. That, according to a released by the Orange County Visitors Association, is the fastest growing industry in the county. Hiring in the tourism industry is outpacing the overall job growth in the county and in the state, according to the OCVA.

"Employment in the industry is 19.8 percent higher than it was in 2010, compared with 17.2 percent more jobs overall in the county," the study says.

Tourism has added more than 3,500 jobs annually at a 3.1 percent growth rate since 2010, expanding faster than the county's overall rate of 2.7 percent and the state's 2.8 percent rate.

Most tourists come to the county for leisure -- 90.3 percent last year -- with the rest for business reasons. Of the 48.2 million visitors last year, 26.9 million came to the county for the day. Just over 9 percent, or 4.4 million, came from out of the country.

About 40 percent of the county's overnight visitors were from within the state, with residents of San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles accounting for half of that number last year.

Canada, China and Mexico are the top three countries where tourists hail from. Other popular source markets are Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Korea, Germany and France.

Tourists are increasingly coming to the county via John Wayne Airport. A total of 5.2 million went through the Santa Ana airport last year, a 5.4 percent increase over 2015.

"First-class attractions, sports and cultural venues, shopping, beaches and parks and year-round beautiful weather make Orange County one of the nation's and world's premier tourist destinations," said Jay Burress, chairman of the Orange County Visitors Association and president and chief executive of Visit Anaheim.

"Our visitors -- from next door or halfway around the world -- provide substantial and distinctive economic benefits for our communities, including the 175,000-plus jobs sustained by the Orange County tourism industry last year," he said.

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