ANAHEIM, Calif. — The crowds in Anaheim are back.
On any day, tourists can be seen wearing Disney apparel and Mickey Mouse ear hats along Harbor Boulevard as they walk toward Disneyland.
The Anaheim Convention Center hosted thousands of sporty young girls and families for a weekend volleyball tournament on a recent weekend day.
This year, over 25.5 million tourists visited the city, Visit Anaheim officials said, a considerable increase from the previous two years when the coronavirus pandemic surfaced and shut down tourism.
"We're back at the game and making great things happen," said Jay Burress, the president and CEO of Visit Anaheim.
With high hotel occupancy, a crowded Disneyland, and conventions and meetings booking up in 2022, Anaheim appears to be recovering from the pandemic lows when restrictions upended the city's bustling tourism industry.
But as the city's tourism continues to rebound, a possible looming recession could halt its full recovery.
The impacts of inflation and a possible recession are something that Burress and his staff monitor.
"We are watching it closely," said Burress to Spectrum News. "All those signs indicate how large or small our marketing circle grows."
Burress touted Anaheim’s tourism recovery to a room of over 450 industry professionals on Dec. 15 at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. The meeting recapped the city’s visitorship and what’s ahead for Anaheim and Orange County next year and beyond.
Disneyland President Ken Potrock teased the Walt Disney Co.'s 100th-anniversary celebration at the resort, discussing two new nighttime spectaculars, a new ride and more in 2023.
Director of John Wayne Airport Charlene Reynolds spoke about the branding changes and new concessions coming to Orange County's main airport.
And Burress highlighted the convention center’s bookings, the increased number of tourists flocking to the city, and the hotel industry’s recovery after many experienced single and low two-digit occupancy in the first year of the pandemic.
Over 25.5 million people visited the city, said Burress, surpassing the pre-pandemic 2019 of 24 million visitors. The number is surprising, given that international visitorship, which makes up about 15% of visitors to the city, is still down because of some country's pandemic-related tourism restrictions.
Still, the domestic market has been robust for Anaheim, said Burress to Spectrum News.
Visit Anaheim officials told Spectrum News they use Tourism Economics, a company specializing in analyzing tourism data, to determine visitor numbers.
In 2019, hotel occupancy in Anaheim was at 78%, the average room rate was $165, and revenue per available room, or RevPAR, was $129, according to hotel consulting firm HVS.
These days, hotel occupancy is 71%, the average daily room rate in the city is about $200, and room revenue expects to surpass pre-pandemic levels, Burress said.
The convention business has also rebounded.
The Anaheim Convention Center is one of the largest of its kind on the West Coast.
In 2022, there were 35 conventions, meetings, or events with over 1,000 room nights booked at local hotels, Visit Anaheim officials said. The Star Wars Celebration, Wondercon, and Disney’s D23 Expo brought hundreds of thousands of visitors to the convention center this past year.
In 2023, the convention center will host at least 44 conventions and events with over 1,000 room nights at hotels and projects a $1.3 billion economic impact regionally.
Aside from the big conventions that come year in and year out, the Anaheim Convention Center will host a major international volleyball next summer.
In July, the U.S. Men's National Team will host countries such as Argentina, Bulgaria, Cuba, France, Germany, Iran and Serbia during the Volleyball Nations League.
"The sports market has been very big for us," said Burress, adding that amateur competitions such as cheerleading and youth club volleyball have become very popular.
Burress credits the city’s tourism rebound to high pent-up demand and the city’s many offerings.
“There has been so much demand,” he said. “People are going to go out, so why not come here?”
As the city’s tourism industry experiences a quick recovery, there are looming challenges ahead. High inflation, a possible recession, or job losses could hurt discretionary consumer spending on tourism.
Still, Burress brims with optimism. They’ve experienced the lows and highs and are now just riding the recovery wave.
“We’re not completely out of the woods,” said Burress to Spectrum News. “I think there’ll be some hiccups along the way — there always are — some geopolitical event or Black Swan, but we’ll be okay.”