Tourism makes a big post-COVID-19 comeback in Santa Barbara

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The latest report on tourism is encouraging in Santa Barbara and more efforts to continue marketing the area to a wide audience will continue, especially through media coverage.

The Santa Barbara City Council received a briefing from Visit Santa Barbara Tuesday.

Among the brightest spots was the surge in business at the Santa Barbara Airport. This year will be the busiest on record. Already a million passengers have come through the terminal. The airlines are also using larger planes.

CEO of Visit Santa Barbara Kathy Janega-Dykes said, hotel occupancy has rebounded to 73 percent, and transient occupancy taxes will likely set another record for two years in a row. 

Hospitality jobs are also coming back, in part, through focused outreach and job fair events this year.
With a strong return of visitors comes higher taxes through the bottom line of their daily transactions.  
That includes sales taxes and transient occupancy or bed taxes.

There will be a survey in 2023 to gain more insights on tourism, tourist interests and how those coming and going on cruise ships spend their time and money on shore.

Santa Barbara continues to get national media attention and was recently featured on the CBS Sunday Morning show.