2025 State of the Visitor Industry: Mid-Year Report

COLUMBUS, Ohio—The 2025 State of the Visitor Industry: Mid-Year Report made available today by Experience Columbus and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission shows Columbus’ travel economy has grown to record highs. Through our Yes, Columbus brand campaign, which we launched last year, visitors, meeting planners and residents are learning about the national accolades our community continues to earn. 

Our marketing campaigns continue to drive significant results. Experience Columbus' spring break campaign resulted in more than 37 million impressions, and according to direct booking data, for every $1 invested in paid media, $32 in hotel revenue was generated in six months from January through June 2025. Experience Columbus’ summer campaign, which is its biggest of the year and is still underway, has seen impressive results with more than 35 million impressions in just over one month. Summer also brought a new season of the organization’s Yes, Columbus podcast and its concert series in partnership with iHeart Media at The Junto Hotel.  

From Jan. 1 through June 30, 2025, Columbus hosted a total of 236 conventions, trade shows and sporting events. One of the biggest weekends of the first half of the year came in February as we hosted both the NHL Stadium Series at Ohio Stadium and the Arnold Sports Festival at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. These events represent a first-ever for our city and a longstanding event that has been an anchor in our community for 37 years. As we shared previously, combined these events brought in nearly $40 million in direct visitor spending. 

“We are thrilled to see data that shows the continued growth of the local travel economy in Central Ohio,” said Experience Columbus President and CEO Brian Ross, ECI. “New research released in May shows that visitors made more than 53 million trips to Greater Columbus in 2024 — a 2 million increase from the previous year. Additionally, overnight trips increased by 800,000, the largest increase in history. The revenue our industry generates represents spending from outside our community that stays here and fuels the critical work of many organizations. We look forward to seeing continued growth for the rest of 2025 and the direct positive impact it will have on our community.”  

Other highlights from April through June 2025 include welcoming the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, which gives the world’s best and brightest young scientists a global stage to share their outstanding science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) research and drew students from 60 countries to Columbus. The National Head Start Association brought 2,700 attendees to Columbus, filling 8,000 rooms and having an estimated $2.4 million in direct visitor spending. The Associated General Contractors of America brought in 2,500 attendees, filling 5,600 rooms and having an estimated $2.8 million in direct visitor spending.  

From Jan. 1 to June 30, 2025, 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.  

*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, 2025, totaled $25,920,629, up 14% compared to the same time period last year, according to reports from the Office of City of Columbus Auditor Megan Kilgore.  

“On the sports side, we hosted several NCAA events with The Ohio State University so far in 2025, including early rounds of the DI Women’s Golf and DI Men’s Lacrosse tournaments and the Men’s Volleyball Championship,” said Greater Columbus Sports Commission CEO and President Linda Logan. “Additionally, several youth baseball, soccer and volleyball events brought visitors to our community. We also continued to work with the City of Columbus on Mayor Ginther and First Lady Shannon Ginther’s ambition to make Columbus the nation’s capital of women’s sports.” 

Looking to the future, Experience Columbus will invite visitors to plan a fall trip through its newly launched Get Goosebumps in Columbus campaign happening throughout October and featuring a special author talk with R.L. Stine in partnership with Columbus Metropolitan Library on Oct. 23. In November, the destination marketing organization's holiday campaign will showcase why Ohio’s capital is the perfect getaway with festive happenings throughout the city’s iconic neighborhoods and attractions. 

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 53 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 1,250 sporting events, generating an estimated $1.7 billion in direct visitor spending. For more information, visit ColumbusSports.org. 

# # # 

Media Contacts:  
Leah Berger, APR, ECI: lberger@experiencecolumbus.com | 614-222-6145 
Cameron Walker, ECI: cwalker@experiencecolumbus.com | 610-389-6833