Visit Seattle has released preliminary tourism impact metrics from 2022, a year that has proven to be pivotal for the post-pandemic recovery of the city’s tourism industry. The figures were announced at the organization’s annual meeting at the Westin Seattle, which included insights from hospitality professionals and local civic leaders, including Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell; King County Executive Dow Constantine; and Visit Seattle CEO and President Tammy Blount-Canavan.
Preliminary data from 2022 points to a path for tourism recovery, with increases in visitor volume, expenditures and travel-sector employment for Seattle and King County. The estimates from Visit Seattle, created in conjunction with Tourism Economics, indicate a total of 33.9 million visitors came to Seattle and King County in 2022, a 27.4 percent increase from 2021. Overnight visitors also increased by 34.9 percent to 18 million. These visitors spent $7.4 billion in the city and county in 2022 (up 37.8 percent from 2021) and paid $689.1 million in state and local taxes in 2021, an increase of 34.4 percent from the previous year. There was also a steady increase in tourism sector jobs in the city and county. There were 61,978 in Seattle and King County in 2022, up 12.6 percent from 2021.
Blount-Canavan and the Visit Seattle team attribute tourism sector growth in 2022 to several factors, including a global rebound of leisure travel coming out of the pandemic, an increase in business travel, meetings and conventions; an increase in entertainment and sports offerings (which included the Kraken’s inaugural season and a slew of concerts at Climate Pledge Arena); and the return of cruise season. Last year also saw the opening of the new International Arrivals Facility at Sea-Tac Airport.
“Tourism is an economic engine for Seattle—it’s a driver for job creation, strengthens our businesses of all sizes, and is a point of local pride,” said Mayor Harrell. “We all have a stake in building a flourishing and thriving tourist industry, attracting visitors from across the state, country, and world. New programs like the Downtown Activation Plan—which is focusing on making our downtown safe, vibrant and welcoming for visitors and locals alike—paired with an ambitious lineup of global meetings and sporting events, and major infrastructure advancements like the new waterfront—are laying the framework for the Seattle of the future we all want to see.”
Seattle is gearing up to host MLB All-Star Week in July. Early projections from Visit Seattle estimate over $50 million in economic impact from the game and corresponding activities during the week. The city also anticipates an increase in meetings and conventions, with the new Summit building, which opened in January. Paired with the original Arch building, Summit nearly doubles the capacity of the Seattle Convention Center, and has already hosted major events this year, including Emerald City Comicon and the AWP Conference & Bookfair.
Visit Seattle welcomed more than 500 tourism and business professionals to the annual event. Blount-Canavan, Mayor Harrell and Executive Constantine were joined by keynote speaker, Rick Antonson (former CEO and president of Tourism Vancouver). Other program highlights included a Global Meeting Industry Day presentation by Nan Marchand Beauvois (U.S. Travel Association) and a presentation by Zahoor Ahmed (vice chair of Visit Seattle Board).
For more information, visit visitseattle.org.
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