TULSA, Okla. — Gov. Kevin Stitt announced historic tourism numbers for 2022.
Oklahoma saw $11.8 billion in travel spending in 2022, up 12% from the year prior, the highest in a decade.
2022 numbers also broke records in Green Country.
Tourism in Green Country
2 News talked to tourism officials to determine what drove visitors to spend nearly $1.4 billion in the Tulsa region.
Renee McKenney, president of the Tulsa Regional Tourism agency, mentioned Route 66, the entertainment scene, sporting events, and all sorts of cultural attractions — to name a mere few.
However, to understand these numbers, 2 News looked back at the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the peak of the pandemic in 2020, McKenney said, "like many communities, we were really struggling on the hospitality side in that shutdown. But we did stay open. And I think that you know, these communities — and you look at the incredible parks here and the fishing trails and, you know, just the incredible outdoor landscape and topography... people really rediscovered Oklahoma. It was a state that they wanted to come to."
In fact, she told 2 News the hospitality sector rebounded immensely, and said we even need more hotel rooms.
"We are really talking a lot about the need for needing more hotel rooms, which is a very good thing, and that we're having to turn away business, which tells us we need to have a headquarter convention hotel attached to the convention center," she explained. "So, that's one of the top priorities that we have from a hospitality standpoint."
To paint a picture, TRT reports hospitality jobs comprising one out of 25 jobs in the region in 2022. Tourism is the third-largest industry in the Sooner State.
While 2021 visitor spending was just below 2019's, 2022 smashed that and is now the all-time record. The growth rate slowed down to 12.5% in 2022, as expected, but it's higher than the 7.2% rate going into 2019.
Increase in visitors to Tulsa
As for the visitors themselves, 9.7 million people visited Tulsa in 2022, growing by 300,000 and almost reaching pre-pandemic levels.
There's the Woody Guthrie Center, Bob Dylan Center, Church Studio, and Cain's Ballroom in the realm of music.
Greenwood Rising Black Wall St. History Center, Greenwood Cultural Center, and the Philbrook Museum are examples in terms of history and culture. In addition to that, McKenney noted visitors showed interest in the histories and cultures of various tribal nations throughout our region.
When talking about sports there's the PGA tour, LIV golf, NCAA events, the FFA conference, and all the equine events that stayed open throughout the pandemic.
It's hard not to mention Gathering Place and, of course, all the development happening along Route 66.
Other things TRT is looking at are tourism spurred by entertainment projects like "Killers of the Flower Moon" and "Tulsa King," as well as Arkansas River projects like the dam and pedestrian bridge.
Tourism Across the State
Travel spending grew by 12.3% in 2022 from the previous record of $10.5 billion set in 2021, according to the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department. Oklahoma also welcomed 18.3 million visitors in 2022, a 3.3% increase over the previous year.
OTRD also noted "while domestic travel around the United States plateaued, Oklahoma’s visitation continued to rise, outpacing the rest of the country."
“In 2022, tourism continued its record-setting pace, generating billions of dollars for the state while supporting over 100,000 jobs,” said Executive Director Shelley Zumwalt, who Stitt promoted to tourism secretary on Tuesday.
“Tourism is Oklahoma’s third-largest industry and is second only to oil and gas in bringing out-of-state dollars directly to Oklahoma," she added. "These numbers reflect what we already know – tourism is Oklahoma’s economic powerhouse.”
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