Still Golden After All the Tears

After a bleak period of recession, civil unrest and natural calamities, we Californians well may wonder whether the Golden State’s lustrous image has dulled before our eyes. But how we see ourselves isn’t always how others see us. Through it all, tourists continued to stream across our borders. California remains America’s No. 1 destination for vacationers.

Last year, 295 million foreign and domestic visitors, lured by our mountains, beaches and deserts and a bounty of other attractions, spent $55.2 billion in the state, a 4.2% increase. Besides providing a needed boost to state and local tax revenues, the tourist dollars created jobs. Sometimes it pays to live in California.

Economic mainstays such as the defense, computer and agricultural industries have shed some jobs in recent years, but employment in the tourism field has grown at a healthy clip, posting a 17% increase since 1990. In 1995, 17,000 new jobs were created by tourism. The state received 10.7% of tourist spending by domestic travelers nationwide last year, an increase from 10.4% in 1994.

Analysts attribute the growth in tourism to a healthier national economy and pent-up travel demand. They warn that success could be fleeting, however. Increased competition or another shaker or two could conspire to undercut recent gains. Nevertheless, at least a mini-boom is underway, another encouraging sign that California is turning the economic corner.