Columbus welcomed all-time record of visitors in 2023

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Columbus welcomed an all-time record of people in 2023.

Experience Columbus, a tourism center in the city, showed off a new brand campaign and new data on Thursday night. Not only is the city setting new records for visitors, but the organization is also hearing how much the tourism industry is supporting local businesses.

New visitation data from 2023 shows Greater Columbus welcomed 51.2 million visitors. That’s up from 49.6 million in 2022.

"We do anticipate as our community grows, we discover and have additional assets into the community that we will grow those numbers," Experience Columbus President and CEO Brian Ross said. 

They are also seeing the financial impact, Experience Columbus said visitors spent $8.2 billion at local businesses.

"We've also really taken a big step forward with our culinary scene, with our arts and culture scene. So we're becoming more well-known, particularly regionally," Ross said. 

Experience Columbus also shared a new campaign hoping to bring even more people into the city. It aims to share all the good things about Columbus and bring the city to the top of mind nationwide.

"There's a lot of data out there that our community ranks very high in, that a lot of people may not know. So when you compare where we rank compared to first-tier cities, some of our competitive cities, people sometimes are surprised to see we're either on par or ahead of those cities," Ross said. 

The data also shows April through June is the busiest travel season for Columbus. Visiting family and friends is the top reason people come to the area.