Anaheim announces record breaking year for visitation in 2022

Anaheim announces record breaking year for visitation in 2022
Edited by Travel Weekly


Visit Anaheim has announced a record-breaking year for visitation in 2022, the Orange County city saw 24.9 million visitors according to Tourism Economics in 2022.

Visitor spending also exceeded previous years at $15.7 billion across Orange County, extending across a variety of sectors including lodging, entertainment, dining, and shopping.

In 2022, Anaheim visitors spent over US$6 billion (AUD $8.9b) throughout the city, demonstrating an 11.9 per cent increase compared to a pre-pandemic year in 2019.

Anaheim also witnessed a steady visitation increase of 2.9 per cent in 2022 compared to 2019.

Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and their pals pose in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle in their shimmering new looks at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim Calif. (Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort)

Australians visiting Anaheim in 2022 were made up of 40.6 per cent return visitors, with an average of 5.7 days in the city. Disney-owned attractions topped the points of interest for Australians, other top places to visit while staying in Anaheim were beaches, shopping, other popular theme park destinations and dining locations.

Among the favourites was Dana Point, Laguna Beach, The Outlets at Orange, Anaheim Garden Walk, Newport Beach, South Coast Plaza, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Fashion Island.

“Anaheim is proud to serve as the epicentre for tourism in Orange County which delivers great economic benefits for the entire county,” president & CEO, Visit Anaheim, Jay Burress, said.

“The fact that 2022 heralded in a milestone year underscores the successes of destination development projects and recovery strategies that have put Anaheim top of mind for visitors looking to plan a vacation.

“The increase in visitor spending also demonstrates the resilience of our local tourism industry.”

Anaheim hosted 71 conventions last year, which included welcoming back some of Anaheim’s largest conventions: NAMM, WonderCon, Natural Products Expo West, VidCon, and more.

These conventions brought in a US$1.1 billion (AUD $1.1b) economic impact to the city, which touches several aspects of the industry including supporting 63,000 tourism jobs across the convention centre, theme parks, restaurants, shops, and hotels. The city ended 2022 with an average occupancy of 74 per cent.

“The future is bright for Anaheim; with continued developments at the Disneyland Resort, ocV!BE set to break ground this year, and many more projects in the works, we anticipate Anaheim tourism to continue to positively contribute to the economic vitality of the region in the years to come,” Burress, said.

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