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40 26 Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce 2026 Economic Trends Industry: Tourism Savannah's tourism industry and visitor economy continues to be one of the region's top economic drivers. In 2024, 12.9 million people visited the Savannah/Chatham County area, generating $4.1 billion in visitor spending. Additionally, Savannah continues to be recognized as a world-class destination with top places to visit in the U.S. accolades from noted national travel and lifestyle publications and websites like MSN Travel, Travel + Leisure, Southern Living, Conde Nast Traveler and Forbes. The Savannah tourism sector continued its strong post-pandemic growth. In 2024, Savannah hosted 7.2 million overnight visitors and 5.7 million day-visitors. The demand for rooms increased 1.1% in 2024 while the supply of available rooms increased 0.1% to 18,777. In 2024, room tax revenue rose to $56.2 million, up 15.6% from 2023, more than triple from the pandemic year of 2020. Visitor spending in 2024 increased 5.1% to $4.1 billion as compared to 2023. Tourism's Impact on Savannah/Chatham County 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Number of Lodging Rooms (1) 17,570 18,220 18,485 18,767 18,777 Person-Stays (Overnight) (2) 4.5 Million 6.0 million 6.9 Million 7.1 Million 7.2 Million Room Night Demand (1) 3.0 Million 4.3 Million 4.7 Million 4.8 Million 4.8 Million Direct Spending (2) $2.2 Billion $2.8 Billion $3.7 Billion $3.9 Billion $4.1 Billion Room Tax Revenue (3) $18.2 Million $36.6 Million $44.5 Million $48.6 Million $56.2 Million Sources: 1 Smith Travel Research – Chatham County 2 Tourism Economics 3 City of Savannah/Chatham County/Tybee Island Savannah's visitors enjoy year-round activities. Although the busiest season of visitations is April until June, the flow of visitors is spread fairly evenly across the year. For overnight visitors, the mix is 80% leisure travel and 20% business and business-leisure. 37% of leisure travelers are visiting friends and relatives. 69% of over-night visitors are repeat visitors and stay approximately 2.9 nights in Savannah. Savannah excels in special interest tourism activities and continues to be an exciting destination. Savannah's distinctive qualities allow the city to stand out in the crowd. In top interest categories for overnight visitors, Savannah remains far ahead of typical national levels in exceptional culinary experiences, cultural activities and historic places. Source: VisitSavannah. 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Cultural Activites/Attraction Historical Places Civil Rights Heritage Sights Special Interest Tourism Activities: Savannah vs US US Norm Savannah