San Diego is one of the United States' most reliable tourism engines: the San Diego Tourism Authority counts 32.4 million visitors in 2025, who spent an estimated $14.4 billion across the county's hotels, attractions, restaurants and bars. The visitor economy generated around $20 billion in total economic impact in 2025 and supports one in eight jobs in the region. Meanwhile San Diego International Airport handled a record 25.3 million passengers in 2025, finally edging past its pre-pandemic peak. The figures below come from the San Diego Tourism Authority, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, the City of San Diego and other official bodies, and are the latest available as of 2026.
Key San Diego tourism statistics
- San Diego County welcomed 32.4 million visitors in 2025 — 17.8 million overnight and 14.6 million day visitors (San Diego Tourism Authority).
- Visitors spent an estimated $14.4 billion in 2025, after a record $14.8 billion in 2024.
- Tourism's total economic impact reached $20 billion in 2025, with more than $1 billion a year flowing into state and local taxes.
- San Diego International Airport served 25.3 million passengers in 2025 — an all-time high, just above the 25.24 million record set in 2024.
- County hotels sold 17.4 million room nights in 2025 at 72.2% average occupancy and a $213 average daily rate.
- Comic-Con draws more than 135,000 attendees, who were expected to spend $96.8 million directly during the 2025 edition (City of San Diego).
- Balboa Park — home to the San Diego Zoo and 15 museums — attracts approximately 14 million visitors a year.
How many people visit San Diego?
- The San Diego Tourism Authority's 2026 Fast Facts put 2025 visitation at 32.4 million: 17.8 million overnight visitors and 14.6 million day visitors, of whom 3.8 million were day visitors from Mexico.
- In 2024 San Diego hosted an estimated 32.5 million visitors, with more than half — 18.0 million — staying overnight, according to the Tourism Authority's industry research.
- The recovery from the pandemic has been steep: visitation collapsed to 14.3 million in 2020, then climbed to 24.0 million in 2021, 28.8 million in 2022 and over 30 million in 2023 (SDTA industry summary via Road Genius).
- The pre-pandemic benchmark of 36.2 million visitors in 2019 has still not been regained — the city is roughly 10% below its all-time peak.
- For comparison with other major leisure destinations, see our Miami tourism statistics and London tourism statistics.
Visitor spending and economic impact
- Direct visitor spending hit a record $14.8 billion in 2024, up 4% on 2023's $14.2 billion (SDTA industry summary via Road Genius).
- The Tourism Authority estimates $14.4 billion in visitor spending for 2025, contributing to a total economic impact of $20 billion (SDTA Fast Facts).
- Spending has nearly tripled since the 2020 trough of $5.2 billion, and now sits well above 2019's $11.6 billion — helped by higher room rates and strong event demand.
- Tourism generates more than $1 billion annually in state and local transient occupancy, sales and property taxes — worth an average of $1,000 per year to every county household (SDTA industry research).
- How travellers book those trips is changing fast too — see our online travel booking statistics.
Hotels: occupancy, rates and room nights
- San Diego County hotels sold 17.4 million room nights in 2025 (SDTA Fast Facts).
- Average occupancy ran at 72.2% in 2025, with an average daily rate of $213 — up from around $211 in 2024.
- The county's supply stands at 68,954 hotel rooms across 681 hotel and motel properties.
- The wider hospitality offer includes 150 craft breweries, 72 golf courses and 416 arts institutions across the region.
San Diego International Airport
- SAN served 25.24 million passengers in 2024, its busiest year ever at the time, surpassing the previous record of 25.18 million set in 2019 (San Diego County Regional Airport Authority).
- 2025 nudged the record higher again, with 25,320,556 passengers (up 0.3%) and 233,275 aircraft operations (FAA data via Wikipedia).
- International traffic grew by more than 10% in 2024 (KPBS).
- The airport's pandemic recovery mirrors the city's: from just 9.2 million passengers in 2020 to 22.0 million in 2022 and 24.1 million in 2023.
Comic-Con and the convention economy
- San Diego Comic-Con 2025 was expected to attract more than 135,000 attendees over four days, with attendees spending $96.8 million directly in the city (City of San Diego).
- The convention generates approximately $3.2 million in taxes for the City of San Diego through hotel and sales tax revenue.
- Comic-Con fills more than 460,000 square feet of exhibit space with over 1,000 exhibitors at the San Diego Convention Center.
- Across fiscal year 2024, 80 meetings and conventions at the Convention Center generated a record $1.5 billion in regional economic impact.
- In 2025 the city hosted 551,659 convention attendees, whose spending totalled $884.5 million, plus 315,451 cruise passengers (SDTA Fast Facts).
Balboa Park, the Zoo and top attractions
- Balboa Park draws approximately 14 million visitors each year across its 1,000-plus acres, 15 museums and gardens (City of San Diego).
- The San Diego Zoo, inside Balboa Park, is a 100-acre wildlife park housing more than 12,000 animals representing over 680 species and subspecies (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance).
- The Zoo's botanical collection alone runs to more than 700,000 individual plants.
- Beach, park and museum demand is a big reason more than half of San Diego's visitors stay overnight — a similar leisure-led pattern to Dubai's visitor economy.
Jobs and the visitor economy
- Tourism is San Diego's second-largest industry and provides 1 in 8 jobs in the region (SDTA Fast Facts).
- The City of San Diego collected $326.3 million in transient occupancy tax in fiscal year 2025.
- County-wide, visitor activity generates more than $1 billion a year in state and local tax revenue.
- The industry's $20 billion total economic impact in 2025 spans hotels, cultural institutions, attractions, small businesses, restaurants and bars.
Sources
- San Diego Tourism Authority — San Diego Tourism Fast Facts (2026 edition, 2025 data)
- San Diego Tourism Authority — Industry Research
- San Diego County Regional Airport Authority — 2024 record year press release
- City of San Diego — Comic-Con 2025 kick-off
- City of San Diego — Balboa Park
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance — San Diego Zoo Fact Sheet
- KPBS — San Diego International Airport sets passenger record in 2024
- Wikipedia — San Diego International Airport (annual traffic, FAA)
- Road Genius — San Diego tourism statistics (compiled from SDTA industry summaries)
