Sacramento is cashing in as tourists come roaring back. Local officials say the region now draws more than 15 million visitors a year who drop roughly $4 billion in the county, and city hotel tax receipts have jumped about 40 percent since 2022. That influx is juicing restaurant tabs, hotel bookings and downtown retail as a busy lineup of festivals and sports crowds the calendar again.
Mike Testa, president and chief executive of Visit Sacramento, told KCRA, “Tourism has huge impacts on smaller cities as well,” as local hotel operators report that conventions and concerts are keeping rooms packed. The station has also reported that airport expansion and a stronger convention calendar are pushing up overnight stays and feeding those fatter tax receipts.
A Dean Runyan Associates analysis released by Visit California found that visitors spent about $158.9 billion statewide in 2025 and that travel supported roughly 1.2 million jobs across California. The report shows visitor spending rose 1.7 percent year over year, even as recovery in some of the biggest metro areas remained choppy.
Tourism dollars aren’t just in big cities
Los Angeles County still sits at the top of the tourism heap, but Visit California data put Los Angeles at roughly $35 billion in visitor spending in 2025, Orange County at about $17 billion and San Diego near $16.6 billion - with Sacramento County claiming about $4 billion of its own. The same data show 55 of California’s 58 counties saw tourism gains last year, a sign that growth is spreading beyond the usual coastal hot spots.
What the uptick means for Sacramento
Visit Sacramento and local hospitality players say the rebound is not just a talking point. They report more convention business, busier weekend nightlife and fuller dining rooms. Testa has been out front on campaigns to lure festivals and conventions to town, and coverage in Comstock's has highlighted how concerts, sports and food events are turning casual day trippers into overnight guests. Neighborhood shops and downtown retailers say weekend foot traffic is sharper and weekday sales steadier when the event calendar is loaded.
Industry groups also warn that the momentum is exposing weak spots. Downtown still lacks enough large-block hotel inventory to grab the biggest conventions, and business and civic leaders continue pushing for more flight routes and more rooms to turn quick stopovers into multi-night stays. Reporting in the Sacramento Bee has noted how sports and major concerts are lifting hospitality metrics while also underscoring the infrastructure and capacity work still on the to-do list.
Outlook
Visit California and its forecasting partner Tourism Economics project that statewide visitation will climb again in 2026, with about 276.6 million visits and an estimated 3.5 percent rise in spending to roughly $164.8 billion, according to the organization’s forecast. Local tourism leaders say Sacramento is well positioned to grab a larger share of that growth if it keeps adding air service, hotel rooms and marquee events that convince visitors to stay the night instead of just passing through.
For now, restaurateurs and hoteliers report fuller dining rooms and steadier bookings and are pressing civic leaders for long-term investments to keep the party going. The challenge, industry groups say, is turning this surge into repeat visits and a deeper convention pipeline that keeps cash circulating in neighborhoods across the county, not just around the arena and the waterfront.
