With cherry blossom season over and allergy season coming to an end, Greater Victoria now braces for the next infiltration of seasonal inflow: tourist season. Tourism is more than just crowds and cruise ships — it’s an economic powerhouse for Greater Victoria. A 2024 report prepared for Destination Greater Victoria reveals just how much the average visitors are spending across restaurants, retail, hotels, transportation, museums and more.
Overnighters
With over 2.8 million visits and $1.7 billion spent, overnight travellers are Victoria’s biggest economic contributors. On average, each overnight visitor spends $610 during their stay.
Day Trippers
Same-day (non-cruise) travellers — typically regional visitors — account for 1.3 million visits and $125 million in expenditures, averaging over $90 spent per visit.
Cruise Crowds
Cruise visitors, including passengers and crew, account for 838,400 arrivals and spend nearly $110 each during their stopovers, contributing $90 million to the local economy. Cruise-line operations add another $124 million in local expenditures.
“Tourism is more than just crowds and cruise ships — it’s an economic powerhouse for Greater Victoria.”
International Visitors
Victoria welcomes 926,500 U.S. travellers who spend approximately $488 million and 352,000 overseas travellers who spend $270 million. And the 214,000 American travellers arriving by air spend almost $139 million in the region.
Image: Getty
