The state’s tourism industry has been riding high in recent years, with travel spending in 2024 reaching a record $157.3 billion. But 2025 threw a wrench into that growth amid ongoing trade wars, tariff disputes and international uncertainty.
Last May Visit California, the state’s tourism and travel commission, projected the first year-over-year decline in visitation since the pandemic. The organization is a public-private partnership funded by tourism businesses across California.
Visit California in October slightly revised its numbers, with international visits expected to decline 0.7% last year after increasing 10.2% the year before, leading to a decline in international spending of 2.1%.
Officials also said overseas visits were forecast to decline 3.7% with the steepest drop coming from Canadians, which instituted significant boycotts of U.S. goods and travel in response to tariffs and political rhetoric from the Trump administration.
But this year is shaping up to be a big one for California, which will play host to several major events including the Super Bowl and World Cup matches and is busy preparing for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Angie Pappas is the Associate Vice President of External Affairs and Media Relations for Visit California. She spoke with Insight Host Vicki Gonzalez about how California’s tourism industry fared last year, and the opportunities 2026 holds for the Golden State.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
California is a top tourist destination in the country. How big of a role does travel spending play in the state’s overall economy?
Tourism is a massive cornerstone of California's economy. We saw about $157 billion in travel spending in 2024. We'll have the 2025 numbers a little bit later in the spring, but it's a massive industry. It's supporting about 1.2 million jobs, and it's California's top international export.
Last May Visit California projected the first year-over-year decline in visitation since the pandemic. Did that end up coming true?
We have some indicators that paint a picture for us. We were able to revise that forecast in the late fall… very slightly upward. The mantra is “flat as the new up.” Those numbers improved a bit from what we talked about last in May but still looking at pretty modest growth, primarily driven by the domestic market. That's accounting for the gap in international visitation for sure.
There was nearly a 20% drop in travel spending and visitation from Canada, right?
That did come to fruition despite our best efforts. I think that we were able to do a lot in that market however, including sending a contingent, a delegation of California destination and attraction CEOs to Canada in November to really shore up relations. There have been a lot of marketing meets, diplomacy efforts that have been happening since the spring to shore some of that. But we do expect Canada to be down about 18-19%, depending on if you're looking at visitation or spending.
But we did see a lot of success in the campaigns that we've run in the market. We saw some thawing of media interest. There was an essential blackout of media coverage about U.S. destinations, so some of the things that we were doing in-market to activate there really did drive a lot of interest and generate a lot of media coverage as well.
Has California, or the United States, ever experienced a coverage blackout like that before? That’s pretty severe.
The issue with Canada, and with other international markets, isn't a California-specific issue. We never want to make it just about California. If anything, we like to talk about how California is seen by a lot of these destinations as different from maybe the rest of the U.S. in a lot of ways. We're definitely seen as a more welcoming, inclusive destination where travelers can come and feel safe. So, we really are trying to underscore those messages with all of our international markets, and they all have different ebbs and flows.
Canada… the rhetoric and geopolitical issues that were happening with the US and Canada, some of that back and forth, that was very pronounced. But there are a lot of economic pressures as well, including the conversion rate. [The] currency conversion rate for Canada is not working in our favor, and a lot of Canadians just chose to stay home last year.
Is international spending typically higher than domestic spending?
For California, no. It’s sizable, but it is a smaller portion of our overall travel spending. When we're out talking about California, marketing California, we're talking to people who live outside of California primarily. Even Californians are driving a lot of travel spending within the state because there's so much to explore here.
What kind of support has Visit California received from the state government, any extra funding to help weather these conditions?
Not necessarily, but that's how we're designed — to be industry-guided, industry-funded, that is our charter. I think that in the past, crises like COVID when when there was a massive decline in revenue to these businesses, there was a little bit of support there. But we're well supported by the industry, and they really want to guide how the investments are made and where we're marketing.
But, we work very closely with the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development and with other state agencies along the way that have a vested interest in making sure that the experience is good for visitors when they come to California. We work very closely with Caltrans and the Department of Transportation on making sure that our roads are open going up to ski destinations in the mountains, and those sorts of partnerships are really important.
It's going to be a big year for California sports-wise, from the Super Bowl in Santa Clara next month to hosting World Cup matches over the summer, and preparing for the 2028 Olympics. What is Visit California’s role in all of this?
We have an amazing opportunity to really leverage and take advantage of the world's eyes on California for these “mega-events.” It is unparalleled, especially when you're talking about things like the World Cup or even the Super Bowl. The number of eyeballs that will be on California... we really will be a postcard to the world.
We're doing everything we can to increase the halo effect of that. Talk to people coming in for games, making sure that they know and understand how they can explore beyond the locations of the games, and build out trips across California when they're here enjoying that.
We really look at it more so from the lens of a broadcast opportunity as well, talking directly as much as possible to all those consumers in-market to be inspired to come and visit California. We're not necessarily in the business of selling tickets to the games, although we're very pleased and excited to see those hotel rooms fill up around the venues and the businesses during those events. But, we want to see those events pay dividends for years to come.
The cost of living keeps increasing, and traveling can often be cost-prohibitive. What is Visit California's role to make enjoying the Golden State accessible and affordable?
That's a huge aspect of what we talk about as an organization. We want to promote not just the ticketed experiences that people know about really well…but [also] those ticketless kinds of things that people can do across the state that don't cost anything. I think that sometimes traveling far and away is enticing to people, but we have so much here to explore and it's not all very costly even here in Gold Country.
There are a lot of hidden gems to check out. We always want to call upon Californians to think about those options and opportunities, and the things they haven't seen yet in our own backyard.