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With a focus on bolstering Coronado’s economy in the aftermath of COVID-19, Discover Coronado has released the findings of a sweeping 2021 economic impact report.
Based on data from Oxford Economics, a leading global research firm, the study scrutinizes the economic impact the pandemic has had on group meetings (conventions) in Coronado, local business, job retention and taxes collected by the City of Coronado.
Findings from the new economic impact report reveal:
- After being virtually eliminated in 2020, conventions and group meetings in Coronado were down 43% compared to 2019.
- Even with steep losses, group meetings delivered $51.3 million in overall revenue, shared between the resorts, local businesses, employee wages, vendors, the City of Coronado, and other stakeholders across the U.S.
- For comparison, meetings in Coronado during 2019 delivered $92 million in revenue.
- Still, $51.3 million in revenue during 2021 is equal to $140,000 being spent every day by visiting groups in Coronado.
- In 2021, 25,764 business travelers discovered Coronado. In 2019, the total was 77,215.
- Groups alone support 4% of all jobs in Coronado. A total of 339 jobs were directly sustained by business travelers to Coronado in 2021.
- Over $2.6 million in local taxes and assessments were generated by groups in 2021. That total is equal to the average salaries of almost 50 public school teachers in Coronado.
- Overall group occupancy fell to 12% of total guests.
- With the significant loss of conventions, leisure guests occupied 78% of total room nights, helping to sustain Coronado’s economy during 2021.
- The group meeting industry is not expected to fully recover until fall 2023.
Discover Coronado commissioned the economic impact study in December to help the city navigate economic challenges – and effectively emerge from the pandemic. According to Todd Little, Executive Director of Discover Coronado, “with such steep losses in recent years, it is crystal clear that Coronado’s livelihood relies on a robust, but carefully managed group travel sector. We want to be highly strategic with Coronado’s recovery, with a goal of rebounding quickly, generating jobs, supporting local business, and strengthening the city’s overall economic health.”
Group meetings, by nature, have minimal impact on the city, due to the fly-in tendency of group visitors – minimizing traffic – and most typically occur off season, on weekdays between Labor Day to Memorial Day.
According to Little, COVID-19 has negatively impacted the City of Coronado’s collection of Transient Occupancy Taxes (TOT), which plummeted by $4.7 million in 2020. “The TOT funds critical community services in Coronado such as the local police and fire departments, libraries, trash collection, park and recreation programs and grants for local organizations,” he said.
“Discover Coronado must ‘right the ship’ by ramping up group business, which will help drive TOT collections for the City, a vital economic engine for services provided to local residents,” Little said.
To access the full report, visit https://discovercoronado.com/impact.
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