SLO County tourism saw record breaking 7.7 million visitors in 2025
Dave Alley
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) – Official tourism data released Monday morning showed a record number of visitors spent time in San Luis Obispo County last year.
According to a Visit California economic impact report, visitation in San Luis Obispo County totaled 7.7 million in 2025, a record-breaking amount with a 3.5% year-over-year (YoY) increase.
“2025 was a breakthrough year for tourism in SLO CAL,” said Cathy Cartier, President and CEO, Visit SLO CAL. “Across the region, our visitors, partners and communities came together to build something stronger than what came before the pandemic. These results speak to the power of consistency, collaboration and shared momentum.”
The information was part of an annual tourism summery released annually each May by Visit SLO CAL, the official destination marketing and management organization for San Luis Obispo County.
Several other tourism related metrics were also part of the report, including:
$2.37 billion in direct travel spending (up 3.8% YoY)
24,580 tourism-supported jobs (up 430 jobs YoY)
$1.01 billion in direct earnings (up 5.3% YoY)
$215.5 million in total state and local tax revenue, including $112.5 million in local taxes
Tourism accounts for 9.7% of countywide GDP
7.7 million visitors (up 3.5% YoY)
As those in the travel industry celebrate the accomplishments of 2025, they are also dealing with economic challenges, such as record high fuel costs, that currently happening now as the peak summer travel season is set to start in only a matter of weeks.
Visit SLO CAL said numbers so far this year are maintaining the strong momentum from 2025 and is expecting demand to continue.
In addition, with the recent reopening of scenic Highway 1 at Regent’s Slide south of Big Sur, already visitation numbers are increasing on the North Coast and throughout the entire county.
“We know there’s economic headwinds underway, but being the proximity and location where we’re at,” said Ashlee Akers, Visit SLO CAL Marketing and Communications Vice President. “We are in a great spot for road trip destinations where you can come and explore really close to home, especially within our California drive markets.”
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