CLEVELAND (Sept. 4, 2024) – Destination Cleveland, the destination marketing and management organization for Greater Cleveland, today announced that 12 events hosted during the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse generated $24.6 million in economic impact across Cuyahoga, Lorain and Lake Countiesi.
Tourism Economics, a division of Oxford Economics, determined the financial boost by evaluating visitor spending, including money spent on hotels, meals, retail purchases and transportation, as well as data provided for the following watch parties:
- Total Eclipse Fest (Great Lakes Science Center/NASA Glenn Research Center)
- Lights Out in The Land (Lake Erie Crushers)
- Solar Eclipse Viewing Party (Lorain County Metro Parks)
- Eclipse Day (Cleveland Metroparks)
- Rooftop Eclipse Party (Music Box Supper Club)
- Avon Lake Eclipse Watch Party (City of Avon Lake)
- Solarfest Weekend (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- Total on the Oval (Wade Oval)
- Eclipse & Sips Viewing Party (Fahrenheit restaurant)
- Solar Eclipse Party on the Runways (The Aviator)
- Total Eclipse at Children’s Museum Cleveland (Children’s Museum of Cleveland)
- Total Eclipse of the Park (Crocker Park)
Direct spending accounts for $15.1 million of the $24.6 million economic impact. Indirect and induced spending related to the events and visitation accounts for the remaining $9.5 million. The Tourism Economics report does not include spending by visitors who stayed with family and friends or spending related to smaller formal events and informal viewing parties as attendance and spending figures aren’t available.
“These figures from Tourism Economics show that the eclipse – and the organized events related to it – drove visitation and visitor spending as anticipated,” said David Gilbert, president and CEO of Destination Cleveland. “Additionally, being in the path of totality put Cleveland in the national spotlight with many national news outlets choosing to broadcast or report from our area. That, combined with the excitement and impact of hosting the NCAA Women’s Final Four Championship just the day prior, has a direct and lasting impact on how people perceive Cleveland.”
The Total Solar Eclipse also drove notable increases in hotel occupancy across the three counties. Hotel occupancy in Cuyahoga County averaged 83% over the nights of April 7 and 8, 2024, representing an 84% increase compared to the same days of the week in April 2023 (April 9 and 10). Similar gains were seen in Lake County (78% increase in occupancy over the same days of the week in 2023) and Lorain County (82% increase over the same days of the week in 2023)
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ABOUT DESTINATION CLEVELAND: Destination Cleveland is Cleveland’s destination marketing and management organization. The private, non-profit organization’s mission is to stimulate economic growth by attracting people and connecting them to experiences that illustrate Cleveland’s diversity, creativity and contagious passion. In 2022, visitation increased 12% over the year prior to 17.9 million visits. For more information, visit www.thisiscleveland.com.
i Data sourced from Tourism Economics – Economic Impact of the Total Solar Eclipse in Greater Cleveland report
ii Data sourced from STR, Inc., a leading provider of premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for the global hospitality industry