Quick Take
With Visit California forecasting a 9.2% decline in international visitors over 2024 and a 0.7% drop in visits overall, Santa Cruz County's nonprofit tourism marketing organization is bracing for the impact even as it sells the area as a destination beyond county – and country – borders.
As the state’s tourism industry prepares for what could be a significant drop in international tourism due to tariffs, economic uncertainty and federal policies, the county’s nonprofit tourism marketing organization is looking to capitalize on the “Only in California” uniqueness of Santa Cruz.
“Historically, foreign visitors have seen California – and Santa Cruz is a big part of that conversation – as separate from the rest of the United States; we’re different in our culture, we’re different in what we can offer to visitors,” said Christina Glynn, director of communications for Visit Santa Cruz County.
That difference includes having diverse environments, such as the redwoods and the ocean, to offer visitors a variety of choices.
Visit California, the nonprofit organization representing the state’s tourism industry, is forecasting a 9.2% decline in international visitors compared to 2024.
“Although we are seeing a decrease, one thing to keep in mind is there are major events on the horizon like the 2026 FIFA World Cup [with games to be played at Santa Clara’s Levi’s Stadium] and the 2028 Olympics [in Los Angeles],” said Glynn. “It’s also possible that foreign visitors are saving up so that they can travel during those times.”
In recent years, Visit Santa Cruz County has made a bigger push to attract visitors from abroad. In fact, representatives from the organization recently joined a delegation from California to meet with journalists, influencers, tour operators and travel agents in Germany, France and the United Kingdom to share information about vacationing in Santa Cruz County. And last year, the organization said it was exploring new opportunities to encourage visitation from China and South Korea. Canadians, usually a big target for the organization, are among the international visitors tourism officials expect to see drop this year.
“We recently did some Facebook testing directed at the Canadian market, to let our Canadian friends and visitors know we’re here for them, we love them, and we want them to come back,” said Terence Concannon, Visit Santa Cruz County’s CEO. “And pretty much across the board, the sentiment from Canadians was, ‘We love you too, but we’re not coming to see you.’”
Domestic travel is also expected to decrease; Visit California expects a 0.7% drop in the total number of visits to the state this year. Glynn and Concannon said that echoes the concerns they’re hearing about expenses and unpredictability.
“It’s not so much about travel itself, but about expenditures,” said Concannon. “The economy right now is in a place where we don’t know what’s going to happen. I think people are really hanging onto their wallets a little bit more; maybe they’ll still take trips, but they may consider taking a shorter trip or going someplace that’s closer rather than spending a lot of money on travel.”
Concannon said local hotels could also face a decrease in hosting meetings in the coming year, thanks to funding losses that nonprofit and government-based groups are facing. While meetings aren’t a huge market for the county, it has been growing in recent years.
According to the organization’s latest numbers, demand for Santa Cruz hotels in March decreased by 3.1% compared to March 2024, and the average daily rate also slightly decreased from last year. While some of that might be more due to the Easter holiday falling later rather than a sign of things to come, the decrease is notable. However, it’s nothing like the drop during 2020, which saw occupancy rates fall by as much as 20%.
Still, Glynn and Concannon said there’s optimism for the coming summer.
“What I’m hearing from our lodging stakeholders is that they are optimistic about this summer because they do expect the domestic market to either hold strong or even increase,” said Concannon. “And of course, they’re concerned about the inbound markets and they’re making adjustments for that. But across the board, they’re very optimistic about this summer.”
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