Visit California’s Board of Directors gathered in Santa Barbara for the Fall Board Meeting, reflecting on the success of the state’s travel and tourism industry and taking several significant steps to ensure the ongoing strength of the industry.

FY18/19 was a record year for the tourism industry. Conceived, funded and led by the tourism industry, Visit California has proved that we are stronger when united. Explore the newly released annual report It’s Working: FY18/19 Year In Review for highlights on statewide marketing accomplishments and record-breaking tourism impacts – a collective success for the industry.

• California tourism enjoyed a ninth straight year of success, setting records in travel spending, jobs and tax revenue.
• Visit California continues to set the pace for global destination marketing, delivering millions of additional visitors and $13.95 billion in additional visitor spending last year.
• Visit California has a proven track record of spending money wisely. Visit California is one of the most efficient state destination marketing organizations in the country – 88% of the budget goes directly to marketing efforts, while operations account for only 12% of expenses.

The annual report was distributed to nearly 30,000 industry members. New this year was the debut of personalized versions of the annual report, available for each tourism industry segment: accommodations, attractions, restaurants, retail, rental cars, transportation and travel services.

Visit California is leading the charge in tourism sustainability, and publications are no exception.

As with all the organization’s publications, Year is Review is printed on FSC-certified paper, meaning the paper was sourced in an environmentally-friendly, socially responsible and economically viable manner.

Take a moment to view FY18/19 Year in Review to reflect on California tourism’s record year. Download a PDF of the executive summary or request a segment-specific hard copy of the full publication here.