Seattle Celebrates Record-Breaking Tourism Season with More Than 40 Million Visitors in 2018

Preliminary 2018 estimates for topline metrics indicate that a total of 40.9 million visitors came to the city and county in 2018, up 2.5 percent from the previous year, according to the Visit Seattle report, which was created in conjunction with its national research firms, Tourism Economics and Longwoods International. Overnight visitors increased 2.3 percent to 21.3 million. Those visitors spent $7.8 billion in the city and county in 2018 – an impressive increase of 5.8 percent from the previous year. Visitors paid $806 million in state and local taxes in 2018, an increase of 5.7 percent from the previous year. Tourism related jobs also grew in the city and county in 2018, there were 78,400 travel related jobs (up by 3.1 percent) in Seattle and King County. Final data from the study will be released in early May.

“We are so encouraged by these strong 2018 statistics showing significant growth in Seattle and King County tourism,” Visit Seattle President and CEO Tom Norwalk said. “Visit Seattle and our partners have worked very hard to create travel inspiration for our destination and of course, we love sharing our compelling Emerald City story around the world. Our city is poised for continued growth and for re-discovery by many visitors who may not have traveled here lately to experience the exciting changes taking place.”

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