2024 tourism numbers should match last year; sports key to future growth

2024 tourism numbers should match last year; sports key to future growth
Gulf Shores/Orange Beach Tourism President & CEO Beth Gendler said she expects tourism revenue for 2024 to match last year’s numbers and her agency is ramping up plans to attract sporting events and tourneys in advance of increasing numbers of lodging rentals that will come into the market in the future. Final 2024economic impact numbers will not be compiled until next spring
“Two of our primary key indicators of the health of our tourism industry are taxable lodging rentals and taxable retail sales,” Gendler said. “Through June of this year, our area was already at $476 million in lodging revenue, a little more than halfway to last year’s total of $879 million. Taxable retail sales are on pace to surpass $1 billion for the fourth year in a row.”
Gendler said around 1,000 units were added to the estimated 15,000 existing vacation rental and hotel units along Alabama’s beaches in the past three years, and developers have introduced plans for 1,000 more.
To make that happen, Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism is hoping to build multi-purpose fields and an indoor sports event facility on 111 acres it owns at Coastal Gateway Blvd. (County Road 8) and the Beach Express.
“From 2021 to 2023, we have seen a loss of 73,000 room nights in sports and events business we could not book due to not having the necessary field or court space,” said Gendler. “Sports tourism is a rapidly growing segment of our industry, and we need to be at the forefront with facilities to attract tournaments and teams here. Our area is a perfect destination for these families and teams because they can combine a sports tournament with a family vacation. And sports events happen all year round, which means business for our lodging companies, restaurants, tours, and attractions throughout the year.”
According to the Alabama Tourism’s 2023 report, an estimated 8.4 million visitors came to Baldwin County, with a strong majority of those (6.5 million) coming to Alabama’s beaches. Those beach visitors spent almost $6.7 billion and helped employ 55,000 people with tourism-related jobs.
“We are a tourism economy here,” Gendler said. “It is the number one industry in our county, and tax revenues from tourism make up a large majority of the budgets for both the City of Gulf Shores and the City of Orange Beach. Those tourism tax revenues help build and maintain the outstanding amenities, including schools, our two cities provide.”
Gendler also highlighted the role the tourism office continues to play in responsible stewardship, partnering with the cities and county on programs like Leave Only Footprints and Beach SAFE.
For more information on Alabama’s Beaches, visit GulfShores.com and OrangeBeach.com.