COLUMBUS, Ohio—The 2024 State of the Visitor Industry: Mid-Year Report made available today by Experience Columbus and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission shows continued growth for Columbus’ travel economy in 2024. Major national sporting events bookended the first half of 2024 and Experience Columbus announced a new brand campaign, yes, Columbus, that invites visitors to Columbus to see why Ohio’s capital has been stacking up so many accolades in recent years.  
 
From Jan. 1 through June 30, 2024, Columbus hosted a total of 222 conventions, trade shows and sporting events. Sports continued to be a major theme for the second quarter of the year with the kickoff at the end of the quarter of the USA Fencing National Championships & July Challenge—the biggest fencing event in the sport's history with more than 6,200 fencers competing. The 10-day event brought in an estimated $7.2 in direct visitor spend. Citywide preparations also continued for the 2024 MLS All-Star Game in July.

“We are thrilled to see visitors continue to choose Columbus, whether they are coming for major sporting events, leisure visits with family and friends or for business travel,” said Experience Columbus President and CEO Brian Ross, ECI. “The momentum about Columbus continues to grow with our new yes, Columbus campaign that is now in the market and is inviting visitors this summer. Other major accomplishments for the first half of 2024 include continuing our Minority Business Program for a second year thanks to ongoing support from Councilmember Nick Bankston, eclipsing 100K followers on Instagram, giving us a total reach of more than 362K followers across all of our social channels and securing more than 5.4 million views for our website.” 

Other highlights from April through June 2024 include welcoming the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, which brought in 7,000 attendees and filled 7,000 rooms and had an estimated $5M in direct visitor spend. The Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine brought in 3,000 attendees, filled 5,200 rooms and had an estimated $2.5M in direct visitor spend. Additionally, the American Industrial Hygiene Association brought in 4,000 attendees, filled 6,700 rooms and brought in an estimated $3.2M in direct visitor spend 

From Jan. 1 to June 30, 2024, the STR report, which provides premium data benchmarking, analytics, and marketplace insights for the global hospitality industry, shows that all key performance metrics increased compared to the same period last year.  

KPI 

YTD 

% Change 

Average in competitive set 

Occupancy: 

61.5% 

5.4% 

60.3% 

Average Daily Rate (ADR):  

$120.81 

2% 

$134.27 

 

RevPAR 

$74.34 

7.5% 

$81.28 

*RevPAR is a hotel industry performance metric, which is calculated by multiplying a hotel’s ADR by its occupancy rate. 
 
Bed tax collections from Jan. 1 through June 30, 2024, totaled $25,920,629, up 14% over the same time period last year, according to reports from the Office of City of Columbus Auditor Megan Kilgore.  

“Hosted events have helped pack the sports schedule this year, adding to the vibrant sports scene created by our home teams and events,” said Greater Columbus Sports Commission CEO and President Linda Logan. “Just this spring, we welcomed three NCAA championships, the USA Volleyball Adult Opens, the SheBelieves Cup and the popular Savannah Bananas. There’s no signs of slowing down as the world’s game comes to our backyard for the Summer of Soccer.” 

To view past Experience Columbus and Greater Columbus Sports Commission quarterly reports, visit ExperienceColumbus.com/Reports.  
 
About Experience Columbus 
Experience Columbus is the destination marketing organization for the Columbus region, dedicated to growing visitor spending and enhancing the visitor experience. Annually, visitors make more than 51 million trips to Greater Columbus annually, spending $8.2 billion and supporting more than 82,500 jobs. For more information, visit ExperienceColumbus.com. 
 
About the Greater Columbus Sports Commission 
The Greater Columbus Sports Commission’s mission is to rally Columbus to compete and win sporting events, providing a singular athlete and fan experience and positively impacting image, economy and lifestyle. Since 2002, the Greater Columbus Sports Commission has hosted more than 1,100 sporting events, generating an estimated $1.5 billion in direct visitor spending. For more information, visit ColumbusSports.org. 

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Media Contacts:  
Leah Berger, APR, ECI: lberger@experiencecolumbus.com | 614-222-6145 
Cameron Tirado, ECI: ctirado@experiencecolumbus.com | 614-222-6146