Contact
Erica Backus
Phone
912-644-6405
Email
[email protected]
SAVANNAH, Ga. – This week, Visit Savannah reported to its Board of Directors the 2019 results of the Longwoods Travel USA Study, showing a 4.5 percent increase over 2018 in visitor spending—totaling to an estimated $3.1 billion – with the average length of stay remaining 2.5 nights.
“While we already know that for 2020 and beyond the numbers will be different than what we were accustomed to seeing, the growth that we saw last year in visitor spending – especially in retail and food and beverage – continues to be impressive,” says Visit Savannah’s president Joseph Marinelli. “A year from now when we end up comparing the overall impact of the local hospitality and tourism industry on the Savannah economy from last year to this year, it will be abundantly clear how important our segment is to the areas economic prosperity.”
Pritpal Singh, chair of Visit Savannah’s Board of Directors, agrees, and emphasizes the importance of tourism now more than ever. “Year after year, the visitor and spending numbers to the Savannah area continue to outshine most of our competition. Our city continues to be a popular destination to visit and that will be more important than ever as we head into the post-pandemic recovery phase.”
Savannah and Chatham County saw an estimated 8.4 million overnight visitors and 6.4 million day-trippers. Of these numbers, 58 percent were female and 42 percent male. Also of note: there has been a 9 percent increase in African American visitors from 2010-2019. Shopping remains a top activity that interested visitors with historic sites and cultural activities following.
The Longwoods Travel USA study is the nation’s longest ongoing study of business and leisure travel and has been conducted quarterly by Longwoods International since 1990.
For more information or for media assistance, contact Erica Backus at [email protected] or 912.644.6405.
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Visit Savannah serves as the official destination marketing organization for the Savannah area tourism industry and is committed to driving economic prosperity in the greater Savannah community through increased overall visitation and related spending while continuing to build upon Savannah’s image as a world-class destination.
