On Wednesday, Visit Pensacola welcomed members of the community and tourism industry professionals to its Annual Meeting. Marking the beginning of a new fiscal year, Visit Pensacola and company thanked the outgoing FY 2022 board of directors, voted, and welcomed in the FY 2023 board of directors, and celebrated industry successes.
“We’ve had one, full year to market and promote Pensacola as The Way to Beach™ and the proof is in the numbers. Escambia County had a record-breaking year garnering $21,828,492 in tourism development tax revenue, a 23.5% increase over last year,” President and CEO Darien Schaefer said. “This is all thanks to the tenacity of our many community partners, stakeholders, and industry professionals sharing the story of why Pensacola is The Way to Beach™.
Adding to the 2022 fiscal year industry successes, Schaefer highlighted a detailed list of Visit Pensacola’s leading accomplishments:
Fiscal Year 2022 By the Numbers
-$21,828,492 in tourism tax development collections, a 23.5% increase over FY 21
-$1,290,683,300 in direct visitor spending, a 2.9% increase over FY 21
-The average daily rate grew to $160.54, a 3.5% increase over FY 21
-The Visit Pensacola team shared the Pensacola story in front of over 30 markets
-Totaled over 204 million in digital exposure
-Over $2.4 billion in earned media
-Garnered 77 new community partners, retained 219 partners, and completed over 400 partner visits
-Over 1.6 million people used visitpensacola.com
-Gained over 17,000 new social media followers
-Generated over $64 million in group sales bookings