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Will travel and tourism return with California reopening?

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As California drops capacity and social distancing rules, experts are tempering expectations on a full rebound of the state’s tourism industry. Domestic travel won’t recover fully until 2023 and international visitors remain half of pre-pandemic levels. Still, state and local tourism officials express optimism.

Lea este artículo en  español .

When COVID-19 shut down businesses and travel across the U.S., communities such as Anaheim that rely heavily on entertainment and tourism were some of the hardest hit. Hotel occupancy taxes, which accounts for more than half the city’s budget, plummeted 90% between 2019 and 2020.

“We depend on large groups at Disneyland, Angels games,” said Jay Burress, president and CEO of Visit Anaheim, the city’s nonprofit tourism office. “It was devastating for our industry and our city.”

With California reopening today to mostly full capacity , its travel and tourism industry is aching for a significant bounce back. But experts are tempering expectations; domestic travel won’t fully recover until 2023 and the number of international tourists, especially from China and Mexico, remain less than half of pre-pandemic levels. And a full reopening won’t happen until large conventions return — not a certainty with the wholesale move to work shift. 

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“Rebounding as quickly as possible is vitally important,” said Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California, a nonprofit organization promoting travel to the state. “California’s tourism industry provides more than 1 million jobs and supports thousands of businesses.”

The state generated $144.9 billion in travel spending in 2019, according to a study by travel and tourism research group Dean Runyan Associates. But when the pandemic hit, travel and occupancy restrictions devastated gains that California had nurtured after the Great Recession. 

While tourism dropped 36% nationally in 2020, California’s tourism revenue dropped 55%, according to Dean Runyan. And more than half of California’s roughly 1.2 million-person tourism workforce lost their jobs in the first month of the lockdown, according to a report released in May 2020. The Legislature passed a law requiring businesses to prioritize rehiring those who lost jobs , and many workers are hoping to resume work.

Low cases, high vaccination aid California reopening

Before the pandemic, the city of Anaheim had so many visitors, Burress said he feared they might get citations for over-congestion. Instead, the tourism director said this past year felt more like a “zombie apocalypse.” 

“We had six years of record numbers coming into Anaheim and Orange County,” said Burress. “Normally hotels were running at 90% occupancy. And then it was in the single digits.”

The industry is already beginning to see some bounce back. This April, California’s leisure and hospitality sector was up 400,000 jobs year over year. On the eve of reopening, Gov. Gavin Newsom made an appearance Monday in San Francisco at the historic Ferry Building, a draw for visitors with its artisanal food and restaurants. He noted California’s economy this year has outperformed other states, including Texas and Florida, because of its public health precautions and vaccination campaign. There’s hope that the upward trend will continue. 

“With one of the nation’s highest vaccination rates and lowest case rates, California is poised for a powerful comeback,” said Beteta. “Leisure travelers will lead the way. We expect outdoor activities and road trips will be extremely popular.”

But experts acknowledge that returning to normal won’t happen instantaneously despite speculation of a second coming of the Roaring ‘20s. While many restrictions have been lifted in California, they aren’t the only inhibitors to people going on vacation.

California travel hasn’t recovered

“The drop in visitor spending isn’t due entirely to business closures and restrictions,” Beteta said. “Consumers must be willing to travel, and for much of 2020, more than half were not willing to venture out at all.”

Domestic travel to California is expected to rebound this year to 75% of its 2019 levels. But it’s not expected to recover entirely until 2023, according to the most recent Tourism Economics report prepared for Visit California released this April.

International travel remains another question mark as other countries continue to grapple with the virus and travel restrictions remain in place. Inbound international travel to California fell 79% in 2020 and is expected to reach just 41% of 2019 levels this year, according to Tourism Economics. Travellers from Asia and Mexico make up two of the biggest spending groups in the state, according to Visit California. Tourists from China alone spent $4 billion in California in 2019.

San Francisco is likely to feel the loss of international travellers the hardest. Foreign visitors account for 61% of total overnight spending city-wide, the largest share of any major U.S. city, according to data from the San Francisco Travel Association.

San Francisco is also the biggest convention city in the state and typically generates $8.3 billion annually on overnight spending at hotels alone. But experts expect conventions to be one of the last tourism industries to rebound this year, largely due to the fact that California is keeping restrictions on indoor gatherings of more than 5,000 people in place until Oct. 1.

Convention spending has larger economic impact

The money generated from conventions is considered integral to the city.

“It’s vital to the city’s health. It’s vital to our hotel community, our restaurant community,” said Nicole Rogers, executive vice president and chief sales officer for the San Francisco Travel Association. “While tourism is important to us — and we absolutely can’t function without it, the convention is a higher spend on average because companies are paying, plus the attendees are paying.”

Conferences held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center can hold upwards of 10,000 attendees at a time. But the economic impact has a ripple effect. For example, during the annual Dreamforce conference put on by San Francisco tech giant Salesforce, more than 30,000 hotel rooms a night are booked. The city typically holds 50 to 60 major conventions a year. So far, just two have been confirmed this fall.

The future of convention spending in San Francisco relies on many things, such as retaining customers. Some opted this year to hold their conventions in less restricted states including Texas and Florida. Other factors relate to how businesses will opt to run going forward and if they’ll continue to hold in-person conferences at all, especially as employees become accustomed to remote work.

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Miranda Green

Miranda Green is a Los Angeles based freelance reporter covering California and the West. Previously she reported from Washington, D.C. for 7 years on energy, environment, climate and political issues,... More by Miranda Green

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Business | California travel industry edges closer to a…

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Business | california travel industry edges closer to a full recovery, travel spending posted a 31.7% increase in 2022 and employment rose 16.8%.

California’s travel industry is gaining on a record-setting 2019, according to a new report from Visit California, projected this year to surpass a pre-pandemic milestone as the industry heads toward a full recovery.

The nonprofit organization, which promotes and tracks tourism in California, said travel-related spending in the Golden State grew to $134.4 billion in 2022. That’s a 31.7% increase from the previous year but down 7.2% from the $144.9 billion peak seen in 2019.

SEE MORE: New rules would have airlines paying passengers if flights canceled, delayed

The report also breaks out 2022 travel-related spending by county:

• Los Angeles County: $28.5 billion, up from $21 billion in 2021
• Orange County: $14.8 billion, up from $10.8 billion in 2021
• San Bernardino County: $5.5 billion, up from $4.4 billion in 2021
• Riverside County: $8.8 billion, up from $6.8 billion

Employment has also made significant gains. California’s travel industry added 157,000 jobs last year, pushing the total employment base to 1.1 million jobs. That was up 16.8% from 2021 but down 7.3% from 2019.

RELATED: Larger crowds, less chaos: Why summer travel may be less bumpy

State and local tax revenue from travel has also gained traction. It increased 21.6% to $11.9 billion in 2022, according to Visit California. That fell 3% short of the revenue seen in 2019.

Visit California President and CEO Caroline Beteta said the industry is on a firm upward trajectory.

“California tourism in 2022 has definitely bounced back from the human and economic toll of the pandemic,” she said. “We’re poised to set new records for visitor spending, employment and tax generation this year.”

MORE TRAVEL NEWS: What to expect when Avengers musical opens at Disneyland resort

Projections from Tourism Economics show the state is on track this year to surpass the record $144.9 billion in visitor spending achieved in 2019, a year sooner than originally estimated.

Visit California numbers show California accounted for 11.6% of the nation’s total travel spending in 2022.

Spending on hotels, Airbnb and other lodging led the way with $31.7 billion in spending, followed by food service ($29.9 billion), local transportation and gasoline ($17.6 billion), retail sales ($15.7 billion), arts, entertainment and recreation ($14.4 billion), visitor air transportation ($6 billion) and food stores ($4.6 billion).

Accommodations and food service accounted for the most travel-related jobs at 627,190, followed by arts, entertainment and recreation (264,698), retail (86,057), other travel (50,205), ground transportation (38,777) and visitor air travel (23,428).

In a companion consumer sentiment report, Visit California lists beaches, hiking trails, malls, mountains and theme parks among the state’s top attractions.

Beatrice Hsu, president of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners — noted that Los Angeles International Airport is the “No. 1 origin and destination airport in the world.”

“We have been investing billions of dollars to build the airport of the future here at LAX with the latest infrastructure, transportation and technology to make the passenger journey more seamless,” Hsu said at a recent California Tourism Month event.

Los Angeles World Airports CEO Justin Erbacci said 66 million travelers passed through LAX last year, adding that 70 million are expected for 2023.

“We’re seeing an increase in the amount of travelers, especially the international area where the increase is much more profound,” he said. “We hope as geopolitical issues get resolved we can have more flights from China and Asia that will get even more passengers here.”

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Can California Tourism Survive Climate Change?

The most popular state for tourism in the U.S. endured record wildfires, drought and flooding just this year. “The rate of change has been so dramatic,” says one local scientist. “If I was the California tourism industry, I’d be really worried.”

By Rachel Levin

“Want to go camping in October?” a friend texted in August. Somewhere pretty, she suggested. Big Sur? “Yes, but …” I replied, “how about May?”

Fall used to be my favorite season. I’d traipse up and down California, from coastal cabins to backcountry lakes to wine-country weddings. But in the last few years, fall has become something I rationally, and irrationally, fear. It’s too unpredictable. Too hot. Too dry. Too smoky. Too anxiety-provoking.

I’m not the only one worrying. As climate change continues to ravage our planet, those who like to explore it — as well as the travel industry that supports them — are inevitably affected, too. Especially precarious and popular California. And yet no one seems prepared.

In 2019, California was the No. 1 state in visitor spending in the United States, according to Visit California, the state’s tourism agency, with tourists bringing in $145 billion to the state economy. It was an unprecedented amount. Travelers splurged at Napa wineries and San Francisco restaurants, San Diego surf-side hotels and Sierra slope-side resorts, Airstreams in Yosemite and yurts in Joshua Tree, stargazing in Los Angeles, whale-watching in the Channel Islands — and don’t forget Disneyland! California tourism saw 10 consecutive years of record growth — until the pandemic. In 2020, revenue plummeted 55 percent.

Now, as travel emerges, pent-up demand has many small towns from Ojai to Oakhurst rocking. This mixed-up moment may not be a fair gauge of what’s to come. What is to come? According to Visit California, a full recovery and then some — $157 billion tourist dollars by 2025.

And yet: Wildfires consumed 4.2 million acres of California in 2020, and roughly 2 million so far this year alone. Severe drought forced quaint Mendocino inns to beg guests to conserve water. South Lake Tahoe was evacuated. In Death Valley, two hikers died in August from extreme heat, as did a family of three hiking southwest of Yosemite. This week’s welcomed rain came hard and fast, causing flooding, power outages and rockslides. All of this will continue in California’s future.

Though little research has been done on climate change’s long-term effects on tourism in the United States, much less in California, many scientists see the poorly managed forests through the trees.

“Places that are already hot are going to get hotter,” said Tamma Carleton, an assistant professor of economics at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara . We’re going to see extreme heat paired with impacted water supplies, and that will make it really hard for visitors to enjoy the activities they’re there to do, she explained. “Who wants to go wine tasting or hiking if you’re baking?”

Hot and unbothered in Wine Country

One of the state’s hottest tourism spots, Napa County, drew 3.8 million visitors in 2018 (and some $50 million in occupancy lodging taxes), according to Visit Napa Valley, the region’s tourism group. But it’s getting hotter.

Instead of four days of extreme heat each year, it will see 36 — a ninefold increase — by the end of the century, projected Lisa Micheli, founder of the Pepperwood Foundation , a Sonoma County climate research preserve (which has burned, twice, since 2017). Roughly 42 percent of Napa County was consumed by fire in 2020: land, vineyards and some 1,500 structures were lost, including one luxury hotel ( Calistoga Ranch ) and much of another ( Meadowood ). More power shut-offs, rising electricity bills, decreasing water supply, increasing infernos: These are problems that will only persist, Dr. Micheli said. “Whatever is stressed now, is just going to get worse.”

The science is way behind, said Marshall Burke, an associate professor at Stanford University who studies the social and economic impacts of environmental change. “The rate of change has been so dramatic. If I was the California tourism industry, I’d be really worried.”

And yet, it seems, it often isn’t. In Napa, the luxury hotel operator Auberge Resorts , which already operates two resorts in the region, is opening a third there, and another in arid Santa Ynez. And from Auberge to Airbnb to fully booked destination-wedding planners, not many cared to discuss how climate change will affect business.

“Maybe my head is in the sand, but I’m not going to put that negative energy out there!” laughed Sonja Burch, founder of Intimate Napa Weddings Napa Valley , a local wedding planner. Smoke-choked pools? B.Y.O. water to weddings? Last-minute cancellations? “Everyone is just thinking: ‘We’ll deal with it when the time comes,’” she said.

Perhaps reticence goes hand in hand with livelihoods. California’s tourism sector employed 1.1 million people in 2019, according to a report by Dean Runyan Associates , a tourism research firm. “Leisure and hospitality” is one of the top 10 drivers of California’s enormous economy — below industries like finance, manufacturing and health and education, but above the construction sector, according to a 2019 ranking of gross state products provided by the economist Troy Walter.

Visit California has said little publicly about climate change. At a trade show appearance in September, the president and chief executive, Caroline Beteta, briefly discussed the “natural phenomenon” of wildfire. She emphasized that while the fires in Tahoe resulted in mass evacuations, the flames didn’t infiltrate the “tourism corridors.”

Still, Visit California is starting to think about global warming. “Climate change impacts California in profound ways,” Ms. Beteta later wrote in an email. At a recent board meeting the group designated a board liaison, she noted, “to help navigate the industry’s approach to sustainable tourism and sound practices in destination stewardship.”

(California State Parks wanted to discuss all they’ve been doing to help mitigate the effects of climate change, but because of the Alisal fire, staff were unavailable to talk.)

Palm Springs is one of the few sunny tourist destinations in the U.S. climate scientists have studied. Francesca Hopkins, an assistant professor of climate change and sustainability at University of California, Riverside, released a paper last year that looked at how climate change will affect snowbird season in the Coachella Valley. Conclusion: rather dramatically. (“And no one cared!” Dr. Hopkins said.) Daily temperatures between Thanksgiving and Easter have historically averaged below 86 degrees Fahrenheit, but going forward, research showed that there will be far fewer days that fall below that “pleasant” threshold. Palm Springs will become uncomfortable, on both ends of snowbird season, she projected, pushing those average daily temperatures toward 96 degrees, and almost doubling the number of extreme heat days.

More tangibly, the probability of having a high-heat day during April’s Coachella Music Festival will increase. Dancing in the desert in 105 degrees? “Even young people could experience heat stroke,” Dr. Hopkins said. “They’ll move the date.” Eventually, she said, people will start to think: “Why go to Palm Springs if it’s so miserable, when I can go to Monterey?”

Low snow, shorter ski seasons

Most research that has been done on climate change and U.S. travel destinations centers on ski resorts — which, facing decreasing snowpacks and truncated seasons , have had no choice but to assess their future. The number of low-snow years has spiked in the last 30 years, said Geoffrey Schladow, director of the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at University of California, Davis .

“It’s the extremes that will hurt the ski industry,” he said. Extreme lows like on March 29, 2021, when the Sierra snowpack measured 89 inches — well below the 142-inch historic average.

Snow itself has declined as a fraction of the total precipitation in Tahoe, to 33 percent in 2020 from an average of 52 percent in 1910, according to “ Tahoe: State of the Lake Report ,” research published this year by U.C. Davis. In other words: We’re seeing rain in winter, when it should be snow. “Given that we are at an elevation of over 6,200 feet, have hosted the Winter Olympics and have a snow-based economy, this is a dramatic fall,” Dr. Schladow said. The number does not have to drop to zero, he explained, for Tahoe to no longer be a snow-based economy.

For many out-of-state skiers who must book visits in advance, Tahoe has become too unreliable to bother. Jonathan White, 47, of Boston had a ski trip planned several years ago for Squaw Valley (now Palisades Tahoe) . “Lack of snow caused us to bail, and actually just go to Stowe,” he said of the resort in Vermont. (Imagine: New England skiing being better than out West.) Now, if the investment manager wants to ski deep powder, Utah is his destination. The state’s snow, he said, is “much more predictable, when thinking about Western ski trips for our East Coast crew.”

Royal Gorge Cross-Country Resort , Tahoe’s largest — and, at 7,000 feet, highest — Nordic area, has been feeling it. Unlike its alpine sister property, Sugar Bowl , Royal Gorge is “100 percent reliant on Mother Nature,” said Jon Slaughter, the executive director of marketing for the privately owned properties. “It’s scary,” he said, but they’ve been doing all they can, including investing in snow-making machinery for Sugar Bowl and creating “low-snow” cross-country trails: super-smooth, packed tracks the resort can open with just 2 feet of snow compacted to a 6-inch base. The goal is to increase the miles of these low-snow trails in the coming years.

Still, not a lot of U.S. ski destinations “have a climate action plan, or have even done a risk assessment,” said Daniel Scott , research chair in climate and society at the University of Waterloo. In Canada, the Whistler resort has heavily marketed itself as a summer playground — to the point that summer visitors now outnumber winter. A wise idea for Tahoe’s dozen-plus ski resorts, too. Except, wait, wildfire.

Where there’s fire, it’s everywhere

The Caldor fire burned more than 220,000 acres in Northern California this year. The evacuation of South Lake Tahoe cost local businesses $93 million in lost revenue in two weeks, according to the Center for Economic Development at University of Nevada, Reno .

What’s even more disruptive than fire, said Dr. Burke of Stanford, is its erratic sidekick: smoke. Visitors can choose to avoid a place that’s burning, he said, but smoke is, well, up in the air.

This summer, Lori Droste, the vice-mayor of the city of Berkeley, and her family faced a series of doomed trips. In July, they booked a cabin near the McCloud River in Northern California, but had to cancel because of smoke from the Salt and Lava Fires. In early August, they made it to Serene Lakes, in the Sierra — but because of the Dixie Fire, were “basically confined to the Airbnb, because the smoke was so bad,” she said. They planned a do-over, during the Labor Day weekend. “But then Caldor was raging.” They canceled.

Shifts in where we go, when

California is often presented in the media as an object of disaster, as Tom Hale underscored to me. Mr. Hale is the founder of Backroads , the Berkeley-based travel company, which has been operating biking and outdoors-oriented trips in the United States and 54 other countries for four decades. It deals with fallout from it all, from hurricanes in Baton Rouge to floods in Berlin. As we all know, climate change is not a state or country specific issue.

And in California, 2021 has been Backroads’ best year yet; 2022 is booked nicely, too.

“I don’t see natural disasters having a permanent impact on demand,” Mr. Hale said. “Unless the whole state is on fire — which is not the case. As much as newspapers make it out to be.”

Still, he acknowledges there have been some differences.

“Wine country used to be our bread and butter,” said Mr. Hale, “but we’ve seen a decline in bookings in the last five years.”

A Utah State University study , published in September, found that changing climate conditions are likely to affect the recreational use of public lands across seasons and regions of the United States. California’s public lands are likely to see a decline in visitation primarily in the summer and fall. What people do there will change, too.

These results hints at what’s bound to happen beyond the parks — to small towns and big hotels; mom-and-pop restaurants; “taco trails” and hiking trails. “When you put it all together, tourism patterns will be altered pretty significantly,” said Emily Wilkins, the study’s lead author.

A shift is already quietly, anecdotally, underway. In Northern California, low snow, early melts and high winds forced the Shasta Mountain Guides tour company to cancel its most popular route up Mount Shasta in April. Yet Casey Glaubman, a guide, offered words of higher wisdom. “Part of mountaineering is being flexible; adapting and adjusting plans is what it’s all about,” he said. “Things are changing, but it doesn’t have to mean the end of everything.”

It will mean running more rock-climbing trips, though. The mountains aren’t going away, he said. “There will just be more rock.”

It might also mean Napa promoting a lush spring, or Joshua Tree National Park touting starry winter skies. (And me perhaps sequestering myself in San Francisco each year until the winter rains begin.) Ski resorts, wineries, desert spas, woodsy retreats and more treasured California destinations will have to learn to attract visitors in different ways, at different times.

“Tourism in California is going to need some serious innovation,” said Dr. Scott, of the University of Waterloo. “Good thing you’ve got Silicon Valley.”

Rachel Levin is the author of “ LOOK BIG: And Other Tips for Surviving Animal Encounters of All Kinds ,” and co-author of “ STEAMED: A Catharsis Cookbook ,” published in May. She lives in San Francisco.

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An earlier version of this story misspelled the surname of an assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her name is Tamma Carleton, not Carlton.

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When COVID-19 shut down businesses and travel across the U.S., communities such as Anaheim that rely heavily on entertainment and tourism were some of the hardest hit. Hotel occupancy taxes, which accounts for more than half the city’s budget, plummeted 90% between 2019 and 2020.

“We depend on large groups at Disneyland, Angels games,” said Jay Burress, president and CEO of Visit Anaheim, the city’s nonprofit tourism office. “It was devastating for our industry and our city.”

With California  reopening on Tuesday to mostly full capacity , its travel and tourism industry is aching for a significant bounce back. But experts are tempering expectations; domestic travel won’t fully recover until 2023 and the number of international tourists, especially from China and Mexico, remain less than half of pre-pandemic levels. And a full reopening won’t happen until large conventions return — not a certainty with the wholesale move to remote work. 

“Rebounding as quickly as possible is vitally important,” said Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California, a nonprofit organization promoting travel to the state. “California’s tourism industry provides more than 1 million jobs and supports thousands of businesses.”

The state  generated $144.9 billion in travel spending  in 2019, according to a study by travel and tourism research group Dean Runyan Associates. But when the pandemic hit, travel and occupancy restrictions devastated gains that California had nurtured after the Great Recession. 

While tourism dropped 36% nationally in 2020, California’s tourism revenue dropped 55%, according to Dean Runyan. And more than half of California’s roughly 1.2 million-person tourism workforce lost their jobs in the first month of the lockdown, according to a report released in May 2020. The Legislature passed a  law requiring businesses to prioritize rehiring those who lost jobs , and many workers are hoping to resume work.

Low Cases, High Vaccinations Aid California Tourism Reopening

Before the pandemic, the city of Anaheim had so many visitors, Burress said he feared they might get citations for over-congestion. Instead, the tourism director said this past year felt more like a “zombie apocalypse.” 

“We had six years of record numbers coming into Anaheim and Orange County,” said Burress. “Normally hotels were running at 90% occupancy. And then it was in the single digits.”

The industry is already beginning to see some bounce back. This April, California’s leisure and hospitality sector was  up 400,000 jobs  year over year. On the eve of reopening, Gov. Gavin Newsom made an appearance Monday in San Francisco at the historic Ferry Building, a draw for visitors with its artisanal food and restaurants. He noted California’s economy this year has outperformed other states, including Texas and Florida, because of its public health precautions and vaccination campaign. There’s hope that the upward trend will continue. 

“With one of the nation’s highest vaccination rates and lowest case rates, California is poised for a powerful comeback,” said Beteta. “Leisure travelers will lead the way. We expect outdoor activities and road trips will be extremely popular.”

But experts acknowledge that returning to normal won’t happen instantaneously despite speculation of a second coming of the Roaring ‘20s. While many restrictions have been lifted in California, they aren’t the only inhibitors to people going on vacation.

California Travel Hasn’t Recovered

“The drop in visitor spending isn’t due entirely to business closures and restrictions,” Beteta said. “Consumers must be willing to travel, and for much of 2020, more than half were not willing to venture out at all.”

Domestic travel to California is expected to rebound this year to 75% of its 2019 levels. But it’s not expected to recover entirely until 2023, according to the most recent Tourism Economics  report  prepared for Visit California released this April.

International travel remains another question mark as other countries continue to grapple with the virus and travel restrictions remain in place. Inbound international travel to California fell 79% in 2020 and is expected to reach just 41% of 2019 levels this year, according to Tourism Economics. Travellers from Asia and Mexico make up two of the biggest spending groups in the state, according to Visit California. Tourists from China alone spent  $4 billion  in California in 2019.

San Francisco is likely to feel the loss of international travellers the hardest. Foreign visitors account for 61% of total overnight spending city-wide, the largest share of any major U.S. city, according to data from the San Francisco Travel Association.

San Francisco is also the biggest convention city in the state and typically generates $8.3 billion annually on overnight spending at hotels alone. But experts expect conventions to be one of the last tourism industries to rebound this year, largely due to the fact that California is keeping restrictions on indoor gatherings of more than 5,000 people in place until Oct. 1.

Convention Spending Has Larger Economic Impact

The money generated from conventions is considered integral to the city.

“It’s vital to the city’s health. It’s vital to our hotel community, our restaurant community,” said Nicole Rogers, executive vice president and chief sales officer for the San Francisco Travel Association. “While tourism is important to us — and we absolutely can’t function without it, the convention is a higher spend on average because companies are paying, plus the attendees are paying.”

Conferences held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center can hold upwards of 10,000 attendees at a time. But the economic impact has a ripple effect. For example, during the annual Dreamforce conference put on by San Francisco tech giant Salesforce, more than 30,000 hotel rooms a night are booked. The city typically holds 50 to 60 major conventions a year. So far, just two have been confirmed this fall.

The future of convention spending in San Francisco relies on many things, such as retaining customers. Some opted this year to hold their conventions in less restricted states including Texas and Florida. Other factors relate to how businesses will opt to run going forward and if they’ll continue to hold in-person conferences at all, especially as employees become accustomed to remote work.

CalMatters  is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters.

Business | California travel industry edges closer to a…

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Business | california travel industry edges closer to a full recovery, travel spending posted a 31.7% increase in 2022 and employment rose 16.8%.

California’s travel industry is gaining on a record-setting 2019, according to a new report from Visit California, projected this year to surpass a pre-pandemic milestone as the industry heads toward a full recovery.

The nonprofit organization, which promotes and tracks tourism in California, said travel-related spending in the Golden State grew to $134.4 billion in 2022. That’s a 31.7% increase from the previous year but down 7.2% from the $144.9 billion peak seen in 2019.

SEE MORE: New rules would have airlines paying passengers if flights canceled, delayed

The report also breaks out 2022 travel-related spending by county:

• Los Angeles County: $28.5 billion, up from $21 billion in 2021
• Orange County: $14.8 billion, up from $10.8 billion in 2021
• San Bernardino County: $5.5 billion, up from $4.4 billion in 2021
• Riverside County: $8.8 billion, up from $6.8 billion

Employment has also made significant gains. California’s travel industry added 157,000 jobs last year, pushing the total employment base to 1.1 million jobs. That was up 16.8% from 2021 but down 7.3% from 2019.

RELATED: Larger crowds, less chaos: Why summer travel may be less bumpy

State and local tax revenue from travel has also gained traction. It increased 21.6% to $11.9 billion in 2022, according to Visit California. That fell 3% short of the revenue seen in 2019.

Visit California President and CEO Caroline Beteta said the industry is on a firm upward trajectory.

“California tourism in 2022 has definitely bounced back from the human and economic toll of the pandemic,” she said. “We’re poised to set new records for visitor spending, employment and tax generation this year.”

MORE TRAVEL NEWS: What to expect when Avengers musical opens at Disneyland resort

Projections from Tourism Economics show the state is on track this year to surpass the record $144.9 billion in visitor spending achieved in 2019, a year sooner than originally estimated.

Visit California numbers show California accounted for 11.6% of the nation’s total travel spending in 2022.

Spending on hotels, Airbnb and other lodging led the way with $31.7 billion in spending, followed by food service ($29.9 billion), local transportation and gasoline ($17.6 billion), retail sales ($15.7 billion), arts, entertainment and recreation ($14.4 billion), visitor air transportation ($6 billion) and food stores ($4.6 billion).

Accommodations and food service accounted for the most travel-related jobs at 627,190, followed by arts, entertainment and recreation (264,698), retail (86,057), other travel (50,205), ground transportation (38,777) and visitor air travel (23,428).

In a companion consumer sentiment report, Visit California lists beaches, hiking trails, malls, mountains and theme parks among the state’s top attractions.

Beatrice Hsu, president of the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners — noted that Los Angeles International Airport is the “No. 1 origin and destination airport in the world.”

“We have been investing billions of dollars to build the airport of the future here at LAX with the latest infrastructure, transportation and technology to make the passenger journey more seamless,” Hsu said at a recent California Tourism Month event.

Los Angeles World Airports CEO Justin Erbacci said 66 million travelers passed through LAX last year, adding that 70 million are expected for 2023.

“We’re seeing an increase in the amount of travelers, especially the international area where the increase is much more profound,” he said. “We hope as geopolitical issues get resolved we can have more flights from China and Asia that will get even more passengers here.”

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San Francisco’s Struggling Downtown Is Hurting Tourism Rebound

Dawit Habtemariam , Skift

July 14th, 2023 at 9:30 AM EDT

What makes San Francisco such a great destination seems to reside more outside of its downtown area.

Dawit Habtemariam

San Francisco’s downtown issues are holding back the city’s tourism recovery. 

Visitor numbers won’t be back to its pre-pandemic level until at least 2025. Convention room night demand won’t start growing steadily until 2025 . 

Tour operators say they’re making adjustments. “All of our loops now start in Vegas instead of San Francisco because San Francisco was just becoming problematic for us,” said Yves Marceau, vice president of product for G Adventures .

Marceau said G Adventures has reduced the time its tour customers spend there, and noted feedback from customers that they don’t feel safe. “Where we might have had a trip that was two nights, we’re now going to do one night,” he said.

David Huang, president and owner of Canyon Coach Lines and National Park Express , said he tries to avoid group trips into San Francisco due to risks like car break-ins. ”It’s too much unnecessary risk you try to avoid,” he said.

The city’s capacity for tourism is higher than ever. In the past, rooms were expensive and tough to get because tours had to compete with meetings and conventions for limited space, said Matt Berna, president of Americas for Intrepid Travel and a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area.  

Now, there will be room for tour operators, but the city has to get the vibrancy it had before the pandemic. “Up to the next two to three years, there will be plenty of capacity for tour operators, but it needs work on getting back on getting that buzz, activities, events and shows,” said Berna.

“For a lot of our customers, we have to prepare them for the general condition of homelessness and people on the street,” said Berna.

Major retailers have left San Francisco’s downtown due to homelessness and crime. Small businesses are also now considering leaving .

The city has been reinvigorating downtown with events such as Union Square in Bloom Music Series and this summer’s night market series, said San Francisco Travel Executive Vice President and Chief Tourism Officer Hubertus Funke.

In May, San Francisco Travel launched a global $6 million advertising campaign called “Always San Francisco” to remind the public that the Golden City hasn’t lost its magic and the negative perception about the city is wrong.

“We’re just trying to remind people that 92% of people who came to San Francisco last year said they wanted to come back again,” said Lynn Bruni-Perkins, chief marketing officer for San Francisco Travel Association, in May.  “Our goal is just to showcase that that the beauty of San Francisco is still here … the arts, culture, food and wine, all of that can still be experienced.”

While the downtown isn’t so strong, there are neighborhoods outside of it that have shown great potential for tourism. North Beach, a popular tourist destination, is busier than it was before the pandemic with new businesses and locals spending more time there than in their downtown offices. The neighborhood will host the first-ever Pizza, Beer and Bagel Festival next month.

@meinlee Follow this route the next time you visit North Beach for dranks🤭🍹 #northbeachsf #northbeach #barsinsf #barhopping #girlsnightout #sfvlog #sfnightlife #sfthingstodo #bayarea #bayareafoodies #monroes #tikibars #tikibarssf #sfbarhopping ♬ Big Boy Speed Up – Dj Kampung

Marceau said he’s come across neighborhoods unknown to tourists that were very vibrant and active. He’s spoken with staff about operating more group tours in the vibrant neighborhoods he’s come across instead of the downtown. Problem is the hotels that can accommodate groups operate largely in the downtown.

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Visit California

California Travel Down Nearly 60% in 2020

By Dan Smith | 3 min

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The coronavirus pandemic ravaged California’s travel and hospitality economy in 2020 even worse than projected, erasing $85.9 billion in visitor spending and $6.3 billion in travel-related tax collections.

Both measurements, reported as part of the annual tourism economic impact report prepared by Dean Runyan Associates, represent significant declines from 2019, when visitors spent $144.9 billion and state and local governments collected $12.2 billion in tax revenue.

Nearly half of the 1.2 million tourism employees at hotels, theme parks, rental car and bus companies, restaurants and retail shops lost their jobs.

The job losses include tens of thousands of entry- and mid-level employees just starting their careers and beginning to move up the ladder.

More than one-third of the jobs lost in California in 2020 were in the travel and hospitality sector.

Tourism losses – particularly job losses – have affected California’s urban centers more than outdoor destinations.

With vaccines increasing and caseloads dropping, California’s travel industry is hopeful recovery comes quickly. But visitor spending may not return to 2019 levels until 2024 or 2025.

"We know that consumers’ pent-up demand to travel increases every week – like a coiled spring about to release. We also know that consumers most inclined to spend on travel have increased their savings over the past year, making it even more likely they will spend discretionary income on travel."

The pandemic-related decline comes after a record 10 years of growth, culminating in 2019, when:

• Visitors spent $144.9 billion in 2019, a 3.2% increase over 2018.
• The number of travel and tourism jobs increased to 1.2 million, adding 20,000 jobs. Tourism job growth in California averaged 3.2% a year for the past decade.
• Travel-generated tax revenue also grew for the 10th straight year, providing $12.2 billion to state and local governments, a 3.4% increase over 2018. Revenue from tourism saved each California household $920 a year.

It took two years less time for the travel industry to recover from the Great Recession compared to the rest of the economy.

• From 2010 to 2016, travel employment grew by 17%, versus 13% in the rest of the private sector. As a result, the travel industry generated 9% of all new jobs in the United States during this period.
• During the Great Recession, overall California employment fell 8.6% between 2008 and 2010, while tourism jobs dipped only 5.6%.
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California Travel-Related Spend & Visitation Forecast (Feb update)

Tourism Economics

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Forecast of visitation and traveler spending in California and traveler spending for California twelve regions with a five-year outlook for the state. 

MAJOR TAKEAWAYS

• Tourism spending in California advanced 6% in 2023, totaling $149 billion. Growth is expected to average 7% in 2024, adding an additional $11 billion in direct tourism spending to California’s economy.
• Tourism spending has fully recovered compared to the previous highwater mark in 2019 due to impact of inflation. As a result, spending is now 3% higher than 2019, even as visitation volume still trails.
• In 2024, domestic visitation is expected to reach 98% of pre-pandemic levels, while international visitation should fully recover. 

Source: Tourism Economics

Total visitor travel spending reached $149 billion in 2023, an increase of 6% over 2022 visitor spending. Total spending for California is forecast to grow 7% year over year, to $160 billion in 2024.

Total visits to California increased 4% in 2023 nearing 270 million visitors. Visitation volume is expected to grow 4% and California welcome an additional 10 million visitors in 2024.

International travel spending increased 38% in 2023 and is expected to reach $29 billion in 2024.

International visitation to California increased 29% and reached 15.1 million in 2023. It is expected to reach 17.4 million visitors in 2024. While international visitation in total should recover in 2024, recovery rates across California’s top inbound markets remains uneven.

Domestic travel spending increased 2% in 2023 and is expected to reach $130 billion in 2024.

Domestic visitation increased 3% in 2023 and is expected to reach 263 million visits in 2024.

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L.A. tourists are (mostly) back — except some of the biggest spenders

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Los Angeles tourism reached its highest levels since the COVID-19 pandemic pummeled the travel industry in 2020. Last year, 46.2 million people visited the city and spent $21.9 billion.

According to a report released Thursday by the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board, visitor spending reached 89% of 2019 levels and visitor volumes registered 91% of pre-pandemic levels.

That growth translated to $34.5 billion in overall economic impact to L.A., a figure that accounts for how visitor spending affects job growth and state and local tax revenue, among other factors. About 1 in every 29 jobs in L.A. is supported either directly or indirectly by tourism, according to the report.

Although the L.A. travel industry’s recovery has continued to pick up significant momentum in the last year, some hurdles remain. Inflation and a potential recession loom large, international visitors have been slower to return to the city and labor shortages persist in some sectors of the industry.

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High global inflation rates have translated into reduced purchasing power for travelers. Direct travel spending in California totaled $134.4 billion in 2022, only 7.2% below pre-pandemic levels in 2019. But factoring in inflation, the true quantity of goods and services purchased by travelers still lags behind 2019 levels by 20.8%, according to a separate travel economic impact report by the nonprofit tourism organization Visit California.

“Inflation is something that we all are watching [to see] what happens with the overall economy. And those recessionary head winds that we all are reading about,” said Caroline Beteta, the president and chief executive of Visit California. “But today, travel is very, very strong.”

At the same time, travel from abroad has been slower to pick up. Despite significant growth in international visits from the previous year, especially from Mexico, the segment remains at just 9% of total visits in 2022 compared with 15% in 2019.

“International is by far the most lucrative customer segment. The sooner we get international back online, the sooner we’ll get more Angelenos back to work,” said Adam Burke, president and chief executive of the tourism board. “It takes between two and a half and three domestic travelers to equal the spend of just one international traveler. That’s why this is so critical.”

Continued challenges have plagued international travel’s recovery, especially between China and the U.S. due to ongoing geopolitical tensions and COVID-19 entry and exit protocols. Before the pandemic, the L.A. tourism board estimates that 1.2 million visitors arrived from China in 2019. In 2022, that number was 110,000.

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“There’s a huge pent-up demand, I believe. And there’s just not enough capacity to be able to bring the people back and forth anymore due to the geopolitical restrictions,” said Justin Erbacci, chief executive of Los Angeles World Airports. Visa wait times have also been an additional barrier, Burke noted.

Labor shortages in the airline and food and beverage industries are still affecting the recovery as well. Employment directly supported by visitor activity rose 20% in 2022, rebounding to 171,107 jobs, but remains 38,000 below pre-pandemic levels.

For the record:

2:13 p.m. May 4, 2023 A previous version of this article reported that Los Angeles International Airport canceled dozens of flights during the 2022 holiday season. The flights were canceled by the airlines serving the airport.

Airlines continue to struggle with shortfalls in aircraft, pilots and ground crew, Erbacci said. Last year, airlines canceled dozens of flights at Los Angeles International Airport during the holidays due to crew shortages. Although travel demand is up, carriers such as United and Southwest have had to ground planes and delay flights due to pilot shortages .

Still, the city is well-positioned for continued recovery, Burke said, as it has evolved as a tourist destination since the pandemic. It boasts new attractions, such as the Academy Museum that opened in 2021 and the Super Nintendo World that opened at Universal Studios this year. Professional sports teams, including the Angel City Football Club that began play in 2022, also beckon visitors. The coming years will bring more international sporting events, such as the World Cup in 2026 and the Summer Olympics scheduled for 2028. LAX is also undergoing a $15-billion modernization makeover.

“We’re never going to be short of tourists here in California,” said Jan Brueckner, an economics professor at UC Irvine who specializes in transportation studies.

Plus, the pandemic helped boost one particular kind of tourist: the “bleisure” traveler, referring to flexible remote workers who come to L.A. for business and add on extra days to their trips for leisure.

“They may go someplace, they may work remotely on Friday, and then they might be with their family and then they do tourist stuff over the weekend, and then go home,” Brueckner said. “Evidently, those kinds of trips are bigger than they used to be.”

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Helen Li was a member of the 2022-23 Los Angeles Times Fellowship class. She grew up in Richmond, Va., and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis, where she studied international development. After working as a university teacher through the Princeton in Asia fellowship in China and Nepal, she pivoted to freelance journalism and fact-checking. During the 2020 elections, she collaborated remotely with a team of volunteers to produce “Fresh Off the Vote,” an explanatory podcast about Asian American civic engagement. These collective experiences brought her to The Times, where she worked for the podcast, Business and newsletter teams. She aspires to learn more about the human experience through different forms of storytelling.

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California tourism economy grew 32% in 2022, set to pass pre-pandemic peak

As California Tourism Month begins, projections show travel and hospitality sector will surpass 2019 visitor spending levels this year. New data also show Californians value tourism’s economic and social benefits.

• California tourism economy grew 32% in 2022, set to pass pre-pandemic peak Print
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LOS ANGELES (May 4, 2023) – California’s tourism industry grew by 32% in 2022 and is poised to set new records for visitor spending, employment, and tax generation this year, according to economic impact research released by Visit California today.

New community sentiment research also released today by Visit California shows Californians value the benefits of the tourism economy.

Both reports were released today at the start of California Tourism Month, the state designation adopted by the Legislature in 2016 to recognize the contributions of the United States’ top tourism economy to Californians’ financial livelihoods and personal well-being.

“I’m happy to report California tourism has bounced back from the devastating human and economic toll of the pandemic and continues to provide value for all Californians,” said Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California, the state’s tourism marketing organization. “California’s iconic destinations are again welcoming visitors from around the world, growing tourism’s economic contributions beyond 2019 levels and putting hundreds of thousands back to work.

The annual report measuring the economic impact of tourism, prepared by Dean Runyan Associates, showed strong growth across the state in 2022 in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic:

• Travel spending in 2022 increased to $134.4 billion across California, a 31.7% increase over 2021 that brought spending 93% of the way to pre-pandemic levels. California’s travel sector added 157,000 jobs in 2022 to 1.1 million – 94% of the way back to 2019 levels after devastating losses during the pandemic. Visitor-generated tax revenue for state and local government increased by 21.6% to $11.9 billion.
• The jagged tourism recovery seen a year ago across California is leveling out. The largest urban destinations – San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange County – made significant gains in 2022. San Francisco, which was only halfway back to pre-pandemic levels a year ago, saw visitor spending grow by 71% in 2022 and was 86% of the way back by year’s end. Tourism spending in 20 of the state’s 58 counties recovered enough in 2022 to exceed pre-pandemic levels.
• Projections from Tourism Economics show California this year will surpass the record $144.9 billion in visitor spending achieved in 2019, a year sooner than projected in 2021.
• International visitors are returning to California in greater numbers, though the $17 billion they spent in 2022 is still just 60% of the pre-pandemic peak of $28 billion. The 2019 level of international visitor spending is unlikely to return until 2025.

Community sentiment research prepared by Destination Analysts and released today by Visit California marks the most extensive look yet at Californians’ view of tourism benefits and challenges. The team conducted focus groups in all 12 tourism regions and surveyed 3,300 residents.

Sixty percent said tourism is important, while 56% said the benefits of tourism in California outweigh the problems. About half statewide said the regional tourism economy improves their quality of life. Residents said benefits of tourism include more business opportunities and jobs, stronger civic pride, and development of attractions and events that can be enjoyed by visitors and residents alike. They called out traffic, crowds and litter as strains caused by tourism.

“It is especially heartening that California’s most important ambassadors – our neighbors, our fellow Californians – recognize the benefits of this comeback and the value tourism adds to their communities,” Beteta said. “It also is helpful that this research has identified the challenges we face so the tourism industry can work with community leaders to find solutions.”

Visit California has reestablished international offices in 13 markets and has extended initiatives to promote professional meetings and events in California and leisure and business travel to California’s urban hubs. A new family travel television campaign, “Childhood Rules,” launched in domestic United States markets this spring.

Beteta praised the marketing stimulus dollars the Legislature and Gov. Newsom approved in 2021 and 2022 to help jump-start marketing programs as tourism industry assessments dropped during the pandemic. The $95 million in domestic marketing approved by the Legislature returned $36.7 billion in visitor spending.

“The stimulus dollars wisely provided by the Legislature and Governor Newsom was critical to bringing California’s tourism economy back faster than would have otherwise been possible,” Beteta said.

Download the Media Toolkit here, including :

• Visit California press release
• 2022 Visit California Economic Impact Report
• Visit California Community Sentiment Study
• Los Angeles Tourism press release
• Los Angeles Tourism economic impact fact sheet

Media Contact:

Dan Smith (916) 802-6708 [email protected]

ABOUT VISIT CALIFORNIA Visit California is a nonprofit organization with a mission to develop and maintain marketing programs – in partnership with the state’s travel industry – that keep California top-of-mind as a premier travel destination. For more information about Visit California and for a free California Official State Visitor's Guide, go to  visitcalifornia.com . For story ideas, media information, downloadable images, video and more, go to  media.visitcalifornia.com .

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The only problem was getting a selection of rental cars at a reasonable price.

Has anyone seen any hard facts on the drop or am I wrong?

This topic has been closed to new posts due to inactivity.

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Watch CBS News

What time the 2024 solar eclipse starts, reaches peak totality and ends today

By Sarah Maddox

Updated on: April 8, 2024 / 8:51 PM EDT / CBS News

The 2024 solar eclipse will be visible across North America today. As the moon's position between the Earth and sun casts a shadow on North America, that shadow, or umbra, will travel along the surface from west to east at more than 1,500 miles per hour along the path of totality . 

That means the eclipse will start, peak and end at different times — as will the moments of total darkness along the path of totality — and the best time to view the eclipse depends on where you are located. Some places along the path will have more totality time than others.

In Texas, the south-central region had clouds in the forecast , but it was better to the northeast, according to the National Weather Service. The best eclipse viewing weather was expected in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, as well as in Canada's New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

What time does the 2024 total solar eclipse start?

The total solar eclipse will emerge over the South Pacific Ocean before the shadow falls across North America, beginning in parts of Mexico. The path of totality , where onlookers can witness the moon fully blocking the sun (through eclipse viewing glasses for safety ), is expected to first make landfall near the city of Mazatlán around 9:51 a.m. MT. 

The total solar eclipse will cross over the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas, where it will emerge over Eagle Pass at 12:10 p.m. CT and then peak at about 1:27 p.m. CT.

In Dallas, NASA data shows the partial eclipse will first become visible at 12:23 p.m. CT and peak at 1:40 p.m. CT. The next states in the path of totality are Oklahoma and Arkansas, where the eclipse begins in Little Rock at 12:33 p.m. CT. 

Cleveland will see the beginning of the eclipse at 1:59 p.m. ET. Darkness will start spreading over the sky in Buffalo, New York, at 2:04 p.m. ET. Then, the eclipse will reach northwestern Vermont, including Burlington, at 2:14 p.m. ET. Parts of New Hampshire and Maine will also follow in the path of totality before the eclipse first reaches the Canadian mainland  at 3:13 p.m. ET.

Although the experience won't be exactly the same, viewers in all the contiguous U.S. states outside the path of totality will still be able to see a partial eclipse. Some places will see most of the sun blocked by the moon, including Washington, D.C., where the partial eclipse will start at 2:04 p.m. ET and peak at about 3:20 p.m. ET.

In Chicago, viewers can start viewing the partial eclipse at 12:51 p.m. CT, with the peak arriving at 2:07 p.m. CT.  In Detroit, viewers will be able to enjoy a near-total eclipse beginning at 1:58 p.m. ET and peaking at 3:14 p.m. ET.

New York City will also see a substantial partial eclipse, beginning at 2:10 p.m. ET and peaking around 3:25 p.m. ET.

In Boston it will begin at 2:16 p.m. ET and peak at about 3:29 p.m. ET.

The below table by NASA shows when the eclipse will start, peak and end in 13 cities along the eclipse's path.

What time will the solar eclipse reach peak totality?

Millions more people will have the chance to witness the total solar eclipse this year than during the last total solar eclipse , which was visible from the U.S. in 2017. 

The eclipse's peak will mean something different for cities within the path of totality and for those outside. Within the path of totality, darkness will fall for a few minutes. The longest will last more than 4 minutes, but most places will see between 3.5 and 4 minutes of totality. In cities experiencing a partial eclipse, a percentage of the sun will be obscured for more than two hours.

Mazatlán is set to experience totality at 11:07 am PT. Dallas will be able to see the moon fully cover the sun at 1:40 p.m. CT. Little Rock will start to see the full eclipse at 1:51 p.m. CT, Cleveland at 3:13 p.m. ET and Buffalo at 3:18 p.m. ET. Totality will reach Burlington at 3:26 p.m. ET before moving into the remaining states and reaching Canada around 4:25 p.m.

Outside the path of totality, 87.4% of the sun will be eclipsed in Washington, D.C. at 3:20 p.m. ET, and Chicago will have maximum coverage of 93.9% at 2:07 p.m. CT. New York City is much closer to the path of totality this year than it was in 2017; it will see 89.6% coverage at 3:25 p.m. EDT. 

Detroit is another city that will encounter a near-total eclipse, with 99.2% maximum coverage at 3:14 p.m. ET. Boston will see 92.4% coverage at 3:29 p.m. ET.

What time will the solar eclipse end?

The eclipse will leave continental North America from Newfoundland, Canada, at 5:16 p.m. NT, according to NASA.

At the beginning of the path of totality in Mazatlán, the eclipse will be over by 12:32 p.m. PT, and it will leave Dallas at 3:02 p.m. CT. The eclipse will end in Little Rock at 3:11 p.m. CT, Cleveland at 4:29 p.m. CDT and Buffalo at 4:32 p.m. ET. Burlington won't be far behind, with the eclipse concluding at 4:37 p.m. ET.

Meanwhile, the viewing will end in Chicago at 3:21 p.m. CT, Washington, D.C. at 4:32 p.m. ET, and New York City at 4:36 p.m. ET. 

In Detroit, the partial eclipse will disappear at 4:27 p.m. ET, and in Boston, it will be over at 4:39 p.m. ET.

How long will the eclipse last in total?

The total solar eclipse will begin in Mexico at 11:07 a.m. PT and leave continental North America at 5:16 p.m. NT. From the time the partial eclipse first appears on Earth to its final glimpses before disappearing thousands of miles away, the celestial show will dazzle viewers for about 5 hours, according to timeanddate.com . 

The length of the total solar eclipse at points along the path depends on the viewing location. The longest will be 4 minutes and 28 seconds, northwest of Torreón, Mexico. Near the center of the path, totality takes place for the longest periods of time, according to NASA.

Spectators will observe totality for much longer today than during the 2017 eclipse , when the longest stretch of totality was 2 minutes and 32 seconds.

The moon's shadow seen on Earth today, called the umbra, travels at more than 1,500 miles per hour, according to NASA. It would move even more quickly if the Earth rotated in the opposite direction.

What is the longest a solar eclipse has ever lasted?

The longest known totality was 7 minutes and 28 seconds in 743 B.C. However, NASA says this record will be broken in 2186 with a 7 minute, 29 second total solar eclipse. The next total solar eclipse visible from parts of the U.S. won't happen until Aug. 23, 2044.

Sarah Maddox has been with CBS News since 2019. She works as an associate producer for CBS News Live.

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