Orlando is calculated to have been the largest US city tourism destination in 2022 with economic recovery from the pandemic fuelled mainly by domestic travel.
A study for the World Travel & Tourism Council found an economic contribution of more than $31 billion, representing 20% of the Florida theme park hub’s total GDP and recovering above pre-Covid 2019 levels by $2.7 billion.
But pressure created by a slower-than-expected return in international traveller spend continued to drive a performance gap in the overall economic recovery of many city destinations last year, despite a strong domestic traveller market,
The combined international visitor spend across the nine US cities analysed was 35% below 2019 levels.
Orlando was the only major city destination to maintain its industry edge with international visitors, surpassing 2019 spending by almost 20% in 2022.
Las Vegas was the second largest US travel and tourism market with a direct GDP contribution of $23 billion last year, surpassing the 2019 baseline by 5.3%.
Miami also made the top city destinations list with a GDP comeback last year of $11.1 billion that exceeded pre-pandemic travel and tourism contributions by 5%.
New York City and Los Angeles also made the top US rankings with travel and tourism GDPs valued at $21.1 billion and $11 billion respectively, showing strong signs of closing the gap to 2019 levels.
The cities economic impact report researched in partnership with Oxford Economics, analysed key travel and tourism metrics across 82 cities around the world, including contribution to GDP, employment and traveller spend.
The report studied the sector’s impact in Orlando, Las Vegas, Miami, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC, Los Angeles and Honolulu.
WTTC president and chef executive Julia Simpson said: “It was a fightback year for cities across the country in 2022.
“Destinations like Orlando, Miami, Chicago and Las Vegas are back stronger than ever before thanks to the relaxation of pandemic restrictions and a strong rebound of consumer confidence.
“Other popular holiday destinations like San Francisco, Honolulu and Washington DC are following suit with growing sector GDP contributions that are well on their way to recovering from peak pandemic lows as they build up their industry workforce and cultivate a flourishing base of international travellers.”