Typical Visitor Spent More, Stayed Longer, Saw the Zoo

The typical visitor to San Diego was profiled in a report prepared last month by CIC Research of San Diego for the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau. A sampling from the report follows:

The top four attractions for out-of-town visitors and the percentage of respondents who listed them as top sightseeing priorities were the San Diego Zoo (37%), San Diego Harbor (33%), Old Town (32%) and Sea World ( 31%). (The Zoo’s percentage dropped from 40% last year, probably because the Chinese panda exhibit proved to be an extraordinary tourist draw in 1987.)

The planned length of stay for visitor groups interviewed in 1988 was 4.7 nights, longer than the 4.4-night average in 1987.

Non-commercial travelers represented about 75% of all visitors to San Diego last year. When asked why they selected San Diego for their visit, visitors most frequently responded: enjoy San Diego (23%), never visited San Diego before (16%), wanted to see zoo (15%), climate (14%), wanted to see Sea World (13%).

An increased proportion of visitor groups (41%) consisted of two or more adults traveling without children, up from 38% in 1987.

The median age of the visiting head of household was 38.5 years. The households represented by the groups had a median income of $38,700. Neither figure was a significant change from the previous year.

Of all visitors to San Diego, 45% hailed from the Western United States, including 17% from Southern California, 7% from Northern California and 13% from mountain states. This total was down from 45% last year, attributable to increased foreign travel and visitors from the Northeast before the Super Bowl.

Average daily spending per group was $115, up from $106 in 1987.