New study reveals positive California resident sentiment on travel and tourism

Destination stewardship is critically important to ensure California’s tourism economy remains an economic engine for all Californians. The tourism industry’s long-term viability depends on its ability to protect, preserve, and promote the traveler experience. Recognizing that residents play a vital role in sustaining this industry, California has made strides to understand how its people perceive the benefits of tourism.

In 2022, Visit California conducted a proprietary study on resident sentiment revealing that a majority of residents recognized the benefits of tourism to both their local communities and the region as a whole. In 2023, Visit California partnered with Omnitrak on their national resident sentiment study to do a deep dive on California resident sentiment. This collaboration allows Visit California to share findings with the state’s tourism industry at no cost, helping the industry gauge resident perceptions of one of its most important economic generators. Additionally, because Omnitrak conducts the survey nationally, California can compare how our resident sentiment compares to all other U.S. states.

The annual syndicated study “Resident Sentiment on Travel and Tourism” is now available through the Visit California industry website. Two annual waves of data (2022 and 2023) are available, and future waves of the study will be published in the first quarter of each year. Omnitrak has extensive experience in conducting resident sentiment research, having fielded studies in their home state of Hawaii since 2009 as well as conducting similar studies for numerous state and destination tourism boards. The sample for their national study reaches over 144,000 households annually with 17,000+ households in California. The robust sample size allows Visit California to report out on resident sentiment for the state’s 12 tourism regions, 27 counties, and 22 cities.

The results from the 2023 annual study tell an important story. Sixty percent of California’s residents have a highly positive perception of the state’s travel and tourism industry. The perception is even more positive in the critical gateway regions of Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco. And over half the state’s residents view the tourism economy as having a highly positive impact on local jobs and tax revenue. The study also explores residents’ perceptions of the impact of the travel and tourism industry on quality of life, funding for the community, marketing efforts, and overall benefits and costs.

Visit California is eager to share this new research with the industry as it highlights the overall positive sentiment around the value of travel and tourism to the state, as well as points to opportunities where the industry can improve communication to further highlight the benefits of the industry to the state’s residents. With a consistent methodology and annual updates, this research will allow California communities to monitor resident sentiment over time.