Denver Sets New Tourism Record

June 17, 2016

Denver welcomed 16.4 million overnight visitors in 2015, surpassing 2014 by one million visitors, a 6 percent increase year over year. Overnight visitors also spent 9 percent more than in 2014, establishing a new spending record for Denver of $5 billion.

The numbers are according to the Longwoods International annual visitor profile study. Longwoods has been studying Denver visitors since 1994, and this research provides a standard visitor tracking tool for many of the country’s top tourism destinations.

“This is the 10th consecutive year that we have generated record tourism numbers, which continues to validate Denver voter approval to increase tourism marketing dollars in 2005,” said Richard Scharf, president and CEO of Visit Denver, The Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Since that increase in marketing dollars, Denver has seen dramatic tourism growth that translates into greater economic impact for the city.”

Leisure visitors totaled 13.8 million, while business travelers reached 2.6 million. Within the leisure travel category, 7.7 million people were visiting family and friends, while 6.1 million were “marketable” visitors, travelers who could go anywhere and chose to Visit Denver. In addition to the 16.4 million overnight visitors, Denver also generated a record 12 million day visitors.

According to Scharf, five of the top seven urban feeder markets have been target markets for the annual consumer marketing campaigns by Visit Denver — Chicago, Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Albuquerque and Phoenix. Longwoods reported that Denver generated more out-of-state leisure visitors than in the past several years, reaching 82 percent in 2015, vs. 74 percent in 2014.

“Out-of-state visitors typically stay longer and spend more money and therefore are the target of most of our marketing dollars,” said Scharf. “One of the reasons we have seen such positive tourism growth is that we have a city that is willing to invest in its tourism product, and we saw that again in 2015 with voters approving important expansions of the Colorado Convention Center and National Western Center as well as the launch of the new rail connection between Denver International Airport and downtown that will pay dividends for decades to come.”

www.visitdenver.com

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