Agricultural Tourism

Unique Niches - Agritourism in Britain and New England

Section 2: Background continued

Characteristics of Tourism in California

Tourism is the largest industry in the world and is growing. Annually, there are 2.2 billion tourists spending money in the areas they visit.

Visitors to California spent $57.8 billion in 1996 on accommodations, food, attractions and shopping. The following list of statistics indicates how important tourism is to California and may provide marketing insight and focus to "on farm" tourist based ventures (California Trade and Commerce Agency, 1995):

Travel and tourism provided employment to 658,000 Californians, generated $2.1 billion in state tax receipts, and $1 billion to local jurisdictions.

• California is the most visited state in America;
• More international travelers visit California than any other state;
• $6 billion is spent in California by international travelers;
• Californians comprise 83% of domestic travel within the state;
• Travel volume was largest in July, August and December in California;
• The San Francisco Bay Area (57 million) and the Los Angeles/Anaheim Area (94 million) accounted for 54% of domestic travel to California.

Non-resident travelers to California spend more, on the average, per person per day than do resident and U.S. travelers in general. Because non-resident travelers are more likely to come from greater distances and stay for longer periods of time, they therefore spend relatively more on necessities such as transportation, room and food. The average daily expenditures of non resident leisure travelers was $105 per person per day as compared to California resident leisure travelers at $71 and U.S. leisure travelers at $78. Non-resident travelers to California spend a greater percentage of all travel expenditures on transportation while resident travelers spent more in areas of food, shopping, entertainment and rooms.

Non-resident travelers take longer trips (4-5 days) and stay in paid accommodations. (versus camping) while resident travelers were more likely to travel for getaway weekends and go hiking and/or biking (t5%). The majority of leisure travelers to California (41 %) and US leisure travelers are between the ages of 18 and 34 years old. Twenty five percent of leisure travelers to California were 50 years and older. While most non-resident travel peaked in the summer months, the resident travel was well distributed seasonally (California Trade and Commerce Agency, 1996).

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