• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • sandiego.org

SDTA Connect Blog

Keeping you connected to the San Diego Tourism Authority and the hospitality community.

  • Accolades
  • Opportunities
  • Destination Promotions
  • Contact Us
  • RSS Feed

Memorial Day Travel Outlook for San Diego

May 23, 2014 By Joe Terzi Leave a Comment

As we embark on an extended Memorial Day Weekend, San Diego welcomes visitors from across the region to enjoy everything our city has to offer. Holiday travel to San Diego has typically seen near-capacity room occupancy across the county and this weekend is no exception. According to AAA and Expedia, San Diego has a positive outlook this weekend.

  • AAA Southern California projects a 1.8% increase in travel over Memorial Day Weekend
  • According to AAA, San Diego is the No. 1 destination for Southern California Memorial Day Travelers
  • According to Expedia, San Diego was the third most searched city for hotels after Las Vegas and New York

This weekend, we are expecting nearly 2.66 million Southern Californians to drive, fly, cruise and ride during their holiday trips – that’s the largest number since the all-time record of 3.2 million in 2005. Although gas is up about 10—15 cents per gallon over last year, nearly 2.23 million Southern Californian travelers are expected to vacation by car, a 1.4% increase over last year.

NEW HIRES

Our group sales department is expanding once again to keep up with demand and allow for greater reach in bringing business to San Diego.  We’re happy to announce our team that joined us recently.

Andrea CowsarAndrea Cowsar, CMPNational Sales Director

Midwest Region

Michelle CoombsMichelle CoombsNational Sales Director

Washington, D.C. Region

Brianne MoutonBrianne Mouton, CPCENational Sales Manager

Specialty Markets

Michael SteffenMichael Steffen 
National Sales ManagerChicago

QUARTERLY UPDATE

In the first quarter of 2014, the number of visitors to San Diego grew 1.6% to 6.7 million, driven by growth in hotel (6.3%) and Mexican day visitors (8.7%). Southern California day visitors declined 4.9% due to spring break moving from March in 2013 to April in 2014, which also drove the 4.2% decline in attendance at top attractions. Spending increased 7.2% in the quarter to $4.4 billion. Both February and March saw strong gains of more than 6% in airport arrivals. With longer haul travel up, hotel occupancies also benefitted. Occupancy averaged 71% in the quarter, up 5% over last year and the average daily rate grew 4.5% to $132.63 in the County. View the current Visitor Industry Summary here. [Download PDF]

From all of us at SDTA, we wish you all a wonderful and safe Memorial Day Weekend as we celebrate and honor those who proudly served our country.

Joe Terzi

Joe Terzi

President & CEO

Filed Under: Executive Update Tagged With: executive update, quarterly update, research, travel statistics, visitor industry summary

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Search

View All Categories

  • Accolades
  • Air Travel News
  • Convention Alerts
  • Coronavirus Reports
  • Destination Promotions
  • Events and Webinars
  • Executive Update
  • Featured Members
  • Industry Trends
  • International Initiatives
  • Meetings in San Diego
  • Member Updates & Spotlight
  • Opportunities
  • Partner News
  • Regional Sales & Marketing Initiatives
  • SDTA 101
  • SDTA News
  • Upcoming Events
  • What's New

Resources

  • California Travel Industry Association
  • Meetings & Groups
  • MemberNet
  • San Diego Tourism Authority
  • Travel Professionals
  • Visit California

Recent Posts

  • Weekly Hotel Performance Update – Mar. 12 – 18, 2023
  • Headlines You Need to Read | 24 March 2023
  • Headlines You Need to Read | 17 March 2023
  • Destination News | March 15 2023
  • Our latest Tourism Accelerator cohort featured on KPBS and NBC 7

RSS San Diego Business Journal Headlines

  • Petco Posts $6.04B in Revenue for 2022 March 27, 2023
  • A Knack for Numbers? That Is Only the Start March 27, 2023

Copyright © 2023 · San Diego Tourism Authority