Oct. 17–CLEVELAND, Ohio — Greater Cleveland attracted 18.5 million visitors in 2017, a 2.3 percent increase over the year before, and set another record.
The increase outpaced the uptick in visitation to both Ohio, which grew 2 percent in 2017, and domestic travel within the United States, which grew 1.9 percent, according to the U.S. Travel Association.
Destination Cleveland, the region's tourism bureau, released the visitor numbers Wednesday, along with the results of a biannual study of the economic impact of tourism in Cuyahoga County. That study shows that the tourism industry contributed $8.8 billion in economic impact to the regional economy in 2017.
Tourism Economics, a travel research firm based outside Philadelphia, conducted both the visitation and economic impact studies.
David Gilbert, the president and CEO of Destination Cleveland, said 2017 marks the eighth year in a row that visitor growth in Cleveland surpassed visitor growth to the United States as a whole. "We're growing faster than the rest of the country. That's where the really good news is," he said.
According to the research, both day and overnight visitors to Cuyahoga County increased the same amount — 2.3 percent — from 2016 to 2017. Day visitors represented 59 percent of the total, while 41 percent were overnight visitors.
Interestingly, the total increase in visitors in 2017 — 500,000 — exceeded the increase in 2016, the year Cleveland hosted the Republican National Convention; that year, the region welcomed 18 million visitors, up from 17.6 million in 2015.
A visitor is generally defined as someone who travels at least 50 miles from home, outside his or her community and not as part of a normal routine.
Destination Cleveland has set a goal of attracting 20 million visitors by 2020, which would require an additional 500,000 visitors in each of the next three years.
Among the ways the organization hopes to meet that goal: Its new Visit Me in CLE campaign, which aims to engage locals in encouraging friends and family to visit. That effort builds on research that shows the importance of residents recommending their hometown as a place to visit.
"We need new strategies to keep the needle moving," said Gilbert. "We're not going to grow better than the national average in perpetuity."
He added: "This is a competitive marketplace. Other cities are trying to do the same things we are."
Elsewhere in Ohio, Experience Columbus reported a 3 percent increase in the number of visitors to Greater Columbus in 2017; Cincinnati USA said the region saw a 2 percent increase in visitation in 2017.
Cuyahoga County tourism: By the numbers, 2017
18.5 million: total number of visitors
10.9 million: day visitors
7.6 million: overnight visitors
5.3 million: hotel rooms sold
$8.8 billion: total economic impact, up 8.6 percent over 2015
68,000: jobs in the tourism industry, 8.2 percent of private employment
Visitors to Cuyahoga County
2017: 18.5 million
2016: 18 million
2015: 17.6 million
2014: 16.9 million
2013: 16.2 million
2012: 15.6 million
2011: 14.9 million
2009: 12.9 million
2007: 13.7 million
Source: Destination Cleveland, Tourism Economics
