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2021 Metrics Report

Cuyahoga County Convention & Leisure Tourism

Message from David Gilbert

Travel and tourism helps Cleveland grow, infusing money into the economy and positively contributing to perceptions of the city as a place to live and work.

In 2021, all key performance indicators for Cuyahoga County’s travel and tourism industry returned to an upward trajectory – from visits and spending to employment and taxes generated, indicating recovery from the COVID-19 global pandemic took hold in earnest. After experiencing a 30% loss in visit volume in 2020, total visits increased by nearly 17% in 2021. Additionally, visitors to Cuyahoga County increased their travel-related spending by 23% last year, a growth rate that was on pace with both state and U.S. domestic travel spending increases. Hotel occupancy in 2022 continues to improve, with Cuyahoga County’s recovery being on pace with our peer set and just slightly behind the U.S. overall.

Destination Cleveland continues its work to rebuild the travel and tourism industry, with the goal of exceeding pre-pandemic success as quickly as possible. We are stewarding the return to growth in collaboration with the region’s hospitality businesses as well as our civic partners. Together we will return the industry to its position as a growth sector.

A summary of the economic value of travel and tourism to Cuyahoga County in 2021 can be found below.

Visits: 16.1 Million

Total visits to Cuyahoga County increased 17% from 2020 to 2021. This outpaced visitation growth in Ohio (9%) yet somewhat trailed U.S. domestic travel growth (24%).

2021 visit volume reached 82% of pre-pandemic (2019) visits.

Economic Impact: $9.2 Billion

Total economic impact of Cuyahoga County’s travel and tourism industry in 2021 reached 96% of 2019 levels. While increased visitation contributed to that growth, it was primarily driven by a spike in inflation (particularly high in lodging, airfare and gas prices) and increased indirect and induced economic benefits of the 2020 and 2021 financial stimulus packages.

Direct Business Sales: $5.4 Billion

In 2021, visitors to Cuyahoga County contributed $5.4 billion in direct spending to area businesses. This represents an increase of 23% in direct sales from 2020, which is nearly identical to both state and U.S. domestic travel increases.

Travel & Tourism Employment: ~64,400

The travel and tourism industry sustained 64,413 direct, indirect and induced jobs, representing approximately 7% of all jobs in the County. These jobs generated $3.1 billion in direct household income for locals. In 2021, industry employment reached 93% of 2019 levels, outpacing U.S. travel job recovery by nearly 20% and on par with industry employment recovery in Ohio.

Taxes Generated: $1.3 billion

Visitor-supported spending, jobs and business sales generated $1.3 billion in tax revenue. This revenue represents an average savings per household in Cuyahoga County of $1,196 toward state and local taxes.

Past Metric Reports

  • 2020
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • 2014
  • 2013
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