Orlando Emerges as America's Top Travel Destination in 2022 with $31 Billion Contribution to GDP

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has published its latest Cities Economic Impact Report, which provides an analysis of key metrics of the Travel & Tourism sector in 82 cities around the world. The report was sponsored by Visa and researched in partnership with Oxford Economics.

According to the report, Orlando emerged as America's top Travel & Tourism destination in 2022, with an economic contribution of over $31 billion, representing 20% of the city's total GDP. This marks a significant recovery for the city, surpassing its 2019 levels by $2.7 billion.

Las Vegas followed Orlando as the second-largest Travel & Tourism market in the U.S., with a direct GDP contribution of $23 billion in 2022. Miami, which made a heroic GDP comeback last year, recorded a GDP of $11.1 billion, exceeding pre-pandemic Travel & Tourism contributions by 5%.

New York City and Los Angeles also made the top U.S. rankings, with Travel & Tourism GDPs of $21.1 billion and $11 billion, respectively, demonstrating a strong rebound from the pandemic lows.

WTTC President & CEO Julia Simpson remarked that it was a "fightback year for cities across the country in 2022, with destinations like Orlando, Miami, Chicago, and Las Vegas back stronger than ever before." She added that popular holiday destinations such as San Francisco, Honolulu, and Washington D.C. were also showing signs of recovery.

The report noted that in 2019, domestic travelers made up 84.6% of Travel & Tourism spending in the U.S. – a number that increased to more than 95% in 2021. Travel hubs like Orlando, Miami, and Las Vegas continued to benefit from strong domestic spending in 2022, surpassing their 2019 marks by 19% on average.

However, the slower-than-expected return of international traveler spending in the U.S. created a performance gap in the overall economic recovery of many city destinations last year. The combined international visitor spend across the nine U.S. cities analyzed 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.