Trends : More Visitors in Store : Tourists in County, Who Spent $2 Billion in ‘86, Headed for the Malls as Well As Theme Parks

If the state’s official numbers are to be believed, tourists to Orange County spend their vacations eating, sleeping and shopping. In that order.

Just-released data from the state Department of Commerce traces how visitors plunk down their cash once they arrive here.

Perhaps not too surprisingly, what makes travelers really dig down deep into their wallets isn’t Disneyland, sailing in Newport Beach or even playing the Daily Double at the track.

Instead, people pay--and well--to dine, drink and shop till they drop. Judging from the numbers, shopping seems to have become tourists’ favorite indoor sport.

Visitors to Orange County shelled out almost $2 billion in 1986--the year for which final data has just been released--marking an 11.1% jump from the prior year. Of the total, roughly 80% was spent on the Big Three areas for tourism dollars: restaurants, hotels and malls. Tourism has clearly become an important part of the local economy--ranking Orange County among the top counties in the state in terms of dollars contributed here from visitors. At the same time, Orange County increasingly is being viewed as the hub for Southern California travelers.

“There’s the beaches, fabulous shopping, the great dining. All the water sports are right at your fingertips and there are world class accommodations as well,” said Alynne Hanford, director of tourism development for the Anaheim Area Visitor and Convention Bureau.

The dollars are big and getting bigger--largely because Orange County has more tourists than ever before.

Consider that in 1987, Orange County had 35.3 million tourists--visitors who traveled at least 100 miles to get here, or who stayed overnight at least once. If tourism this year reaches the expected 36 million, Orange County will have more than 16 times as many visitors as residents in 1988.

And the deluge doesn’t show any signs of slowing. The Anaheim Area Visitor and Convention Bureau estimates that Orange County will attract 3% to 5% more visitors this year. While that is slightly below the state’s annual average increase of 4% to 5% each year, tourism industry sources say it is still very healthy.

The $2-billion total in tourism spending also ranks Orange County fourth in the state--trailing Los Angeles County, where visitors generated $5.2 billion, San Diego County, which received $2.2 billion from its tourists, and San Francisco, which received $2.1 billion.

Much of the credit--or blame--for the arriving masses goes, of course, to Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm. Both fervidly recruit tourists with wholesale tour packages offered through Walt Disney Travel Co., as well as through some joint ventures.

For Disneyland, the efforts have produced attendance that is the second largest among amusement parks worldwide. In 1987, tourism accounted for roughly half of the almost 13 million people who visited Disneyland. At Knott’s, 45% of the 4 million patrons last year arrived from outside Southern California.

But while Disneyland and Knott’s are Orange County’s flashiest visitor attractions, most visitors spent their money here on other, less likely pursuits--namely eating, hotels and malls.

Consider a few more figures from the Department of Commerce, released this month at the California Travel Industry Assn.’s (CALTIA) Annual Conference in Sacramento:

- The Commerce Department’s Office of Economic Research estimates that of the total $2 billion that tourists brought to Orange County in 1986, the lion’s share of $612.3 million was spent eating and drinking in restaurants, hotels, bars and diners.

* The second-highest amount of tourism dollars, $510.4 million, was spent for accommodations.

* Ranked as a strong No. 3 among tourism expenditures was the $474 million that visitors plunked down on retail sales.

* Another $197.5 million of tourism dollars went for recreation--including families visiting Disneyland and Knott’s, quarter horse fans visiting Los Alamitos and sports fans getting their fill of fastballs at Anaheim Stadium.

* Visitors spent $144.9 million on automobile and transportation expenses--including car rentals, gasoline and money spent for taxis and buses.

* And food not purchased in restaurants--such as supermarket and convenience store purchases--claimed $42.4 million of tourists’ dollars in 1986.

The biggest surprise for travel industry executives at the CALTIA annual conference was the big bite of tourism dollars that was spent on retail purchases.

On a statewide level, of the $31.4 billion that tourists spent in 1986, retail sales accounted for $5.6 billion. That makes retail purchases the second biggest expenditure for visitors to California--second only after the $7.7 billion that tourists paid for restaurant food and drinks in 1986 and more than the $4.8 billion spent on accommodations.

“What it tells us is that the traveler spends more than we give him credit for eating and drinking and on retail,” said Michael Sarka, CALTIA’s executive vice president.

But in Orange County, the high percentage of tourism dollars spent on retail purchasers wasn’t quite as amazing. The numbers at least partly reflect the fact that visitors eager to dress for success no longer must travel to Beverly Hills. They can buy glitzy couture gowns, imported cut crystal and designer luggage at any number of exclusive shops at South Coast Plaza or nearby Newport Center/Fashion Island.

Malls may not be as glamorous as the ocean and sunsets in a travel guide, but “shopping is a No. 1 activity” for many visitors in Orange County, said Werner Escher, director of public affairs for South Coast Plaza.

Before South Coast Plaza started a program three years ago to bus visitors from 40 area hotels, tourism trade accounted for slightly more than 3% of sales, Escher noted. But since the program has started rolling, tourists accounted for about 15.1% of South Coast’s 1987 sales of almost $700 million.

At Fashion Island in Newport Beach, about 20% of last year’s sales of $200 million-plus were spent by tourists, said Eileen Bohen, marketing director.

And dollars directly spent by visitors as they travel through Orange County aren’t the only way the area benefits from tourism.

Orange County has at least 37,459 employees whose jobs are directly connected with tourism, with a total payroll of $410.3 million, according to the state Department of Commerce’s 1986 data.

Tourism brought in $51.8 million in local tax receipts and $72.4 million in state taxes in that year.

Orange County’s blend of city and suburb “has the beach, restaurants, businesses and major attractions,” noted Dean Runyon of Portland, Ore.’s Dean Runyon Associates, which calculated the Department of Commerce data. “Not only are the attractions there, but Orange County is located in the middle of a metropolitan area. . . . People draw people.”

And more tourism dollars.

ORANGE COUNTY TOURIST DOLLAR How the typical dollars spent by tourists in Orange County in 1986 was divided.

Accommodations . . . 26%

Eating/Drinking . . . 31%

Food Stores . . . 2%

Auto/Transport . . . 7%

Recreation . . . 10%

Retail Sales . . . 24%

Source: Dean Runyon Associates for the California Dept. of Commerce

HOW TOURIST DOLLARS WERE SPENT

Dollars spent in 1986 that were generated by tourists traveling to and within California and Orange County.

Orange County Statewide Category (millions) (millions) Accommodations $510.4 $4,800.0 Eating/Drinking 612.3 7,700.0 Food Stores 42.4 771.7 Auto/Transport 144.9 2,100.0 Recreation 197.5 2,400.0 Retail Sales 474.0 5,500.0 Sub-Total 1,991.7 23,379.4 Air Travel 249.2 8,000.0 Total 2,240.9 31,379.4

Source: Dean Runyon Associates for the California Dept. of Commerce

TOURISM’S IMPACT

The dollar impact and total tourism-related employment in 1986 for California and selected counties.

Travel Tax R Expenditures Payroll Employment Local County (billions) (millions) (Jobs) (millions) Orange $ 2.0 $ 410.3 37,459 $ 51.8 Los Angeles 5.2 1,000.0 85,095 148.9 San Francisco 2.1 469.9 32,552 77.5 San Diego 2.2 454.4 44,574 49.3 Riverside 1.0 202.1 19,599 21.9 Statewide 23.4 4,600.0 432,544 582.1

eceipts State County (millions) Orange $ 72.4 Los Angeles 198.9 San Francisco 78.4 San Diego 83.6 Riverside 40.3 Statewide 909.5

Source: Dean Runyan Associated for the California Dept. of Commerce