Visit Buffalo Niagara Caps Off Record Year in Tourism

BUFFALO, NY April 4, 2019 –  Annual Report Highlights VBN’s Efforts to Promote Buffalo’s Transformation

Just as Buffalo reached new heights as a visitor destination in 2018 – setting tourism records and opening new attractions, hotels, restaurants and breweries – so did Visit Buffalo Niagara in promoting the region’s transformation.

Visit Buffalo Niagara has released its 2018 Annual Business Review, which outlines the organization’s efforts to drive record amounts of tourism to Buffalo and Erie County in the previous year.

The report’s highlights include:

• Hotel room revenue in Erie County set a new record in 2018 of $257 million, an increase of $40 million from five years ago, while the average daily rate charged for a hotel room also set a new record of $107.08.

• Tourism spending in Erie County now totals $1.8 billion, and grew by 11 percent over the last five years, while total tourism employment has grown by 10 percent in that same timeframe, and now supports 33,000 jobs in the county.

• Visit Buffalo Niagara generated a record amount of out-of-town media coverage about Buffalo in 2018, helping place more than 230 stories in outlets ranging from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal to the Sunday Times of London and the Washington Post, and hosting more than 50 travel media on press visits.

• VBN’s sales team and the Buffalo Niagara Sports Commission collectively booked nearly 500 future meetings and sporting events in 2018 worth more than $116 million in future economic impact. These events will eventually fill more than 136,000 hotel room nights in the community.

The complete report can be found on Issuu here: Visit Buffalo Niagara Annual Report