SAN DIEGO — San Diego leaders are gearing up for some major summer events to return to America’s Finest City. They are expected to attract hundreds of thousands of people.
On Thursday, Mayor Todd Gloria discussed the impact that the events will have on the San Diego economy. He said, “The hotel room taxes that these folks generate make up a healthy portion of our city’s budget. These are dollars that we use to help address homelessness, to fix our roads, to fund our parks and our libraries and just about every other city service that we provide that keeps this city running. That is why I am so happy, and frankly relieved to see the industry booming back.”
In July alone the city will host San Diego Pride and Comic-Con International which are expected to bring in millions of dollars. In 2021, visitors spent $7.4 billion in San Diego which is 36% lower than pre pandemic levels.
For Comic-Con alone, city leaders are expecting 100,000 people to stay in hotels, eat at restaurants and shop at local businesses. Gloria said the city is ready to host the events. San Diego has close to 196,000 staff members in the tourism industry, prior to COVID-19 there were around 210,000.
In terms of visitors, San Diego saw 24 million in 2021 which is 60% higher than in 2020.
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