A new report shows tourism continues to climb in Monterey County.

Monterey County’s number two economic driver, tourism, seems to be perking along well after a big dip during the pandemic, according to new numbers released by Visit California. Pam Marino here, to share a few of those new numbers and what it means to those of us who live here.

The good news out of the 2025 study, “The Economic Impact of Travel in California,” released on April 20, is that direct tourist spending is up in Monterey County, which in turn means tax revenue is up as well.

Direct spending by visitors to the county was estimated at $3.2 billion last year, a 4.2-percent increase, according to numbers by Dean Runyan Associates. Another $107 million was spent on other travel services here, for a total of $3.3 billion spent. 

Hotel, motel and short-term rental spending was up nearly 5 percent over 2024, at $2.3 billion. Of that total, hotel spending was over $2 billion, up 5.3 percent, while short-term rentals were $246 million, about the same as 2024.

The study reports on other areas of visitor spending—like food service, retail spending and transportation. It also takes a look at what businesses in these categories earned. I found it interesting that the biggest percentage increase was in Arts, Entertainment and Recreation, at 8.8 percent, for earnings of $643 million. Accommodations and Food Service was right behind with a 7.3-percent increase, for just over $1 billion earned. Earnings in all categories were $1.8 billion, a 7.5-percent increase over 2024.

All of that spending and earning translated into an estimated 27,360 jobs last year, just a 1.5-percent increase.

For those of us not in the hospitality industry, we still benefit. The direct tax revenue to local governments was $199 million, a 6.3-percent increase. (The total tax revenue was $346 million, with $147 million of that going to the state.)

That tax revenue gets deposited in municipality coffers, to be used to pay for services and infrastructure we depend on daily: police, fire, roads, sidewalks, parks and myriad other projects and services.

The report also revealed that tourism dropped slightly elsewhere throughout the U.S., making California the top tourist destination in 2025. Statewide spending was up slightly by 1.7 percent, totalling $158.9 billion in 2025, generating $13.6 billion in state and local tax revenues. In addition, the industry supported 1.17 million jobs in California. 

You can check out the report yourself here, just in time for California Tourism Month, which runs through May. Then in June the FIFA World Cup comes to the state, including six matches at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, which is expected to generate even more revenue for the state this year. See Monterey is hoping to bring some of that green here—the convention and visitors bureau has a special webpage to entice soccer fans to spend some time here.