Denver Skyline. Credit: Captain Colorado Photography

Visit Denver, the City of Denver's official tourism sales and marketing agency, announced that 2024 Denver tourism was consistent with 2023's record-breaking year, welcoming 37.1 million domestic visitors and generating $10.3 billion in tourism spending. Marketable trips to Denver, those that Visit Denver specifically targets since this group is defined by its openness to tourism promotions, rose 14% to 8.7 million visitors, the highest it's ever been.

Overnight visitors totaled 19.8 million, generating $8.7 billion in spending, on par with 2023's record-breaking year. Overnight leisure visitors totaled 17.4 million, consistent with 2023's record-setting year.

Longwoods International provided the Denver visitor data through their annual visitor profile study, which they have conducted for Denver since 1994. Top tourism destinations from around the country and world rely on Longwoods' research and peer-reviewed methodology to provide standardized visitor tracking tools.

The study confirmed that Denver is a year-round destination with overnight visitation spread evenly throughout the year, with slight preferences toward summer. Denver saw 22% of visitors in Q1, 26% in Q2, 28% in Q3 and 23% in Q4. The data suggests travelers enjoy their trips and have plenty of reason to return, with 80% of overnight visitors being repeat guests.

The data further showed how crucial Denver International Airport and its air service is for continued strong Denver tourism trends. In 2024, 36% of overnight Denver visitors arrived by plane, compared to the national average of just 24%. The airport, as well as Visit Denver's partnership with the Colorado Tourism Office, are key to Denver's position as both a destination and a gateway to the rest of the state with overnight Denver visitors spending an average of 2.7 nights, or nearly 70% of their trip in Denver, with the remainder in other parts of the Centennial State.

A separate Return on Investment (ROI) study from Longwoods International showed specific, measurable results from Visit Denver's 2024 spring/summer targeted advertising campaign, the organization's largest campaign of the year. That study showed that campaign was directly responsible for:

• 3 million incremental trips
• $1.3 billion in incremental spending
• $143 million in incremental state and local taxes, including more than $106 million for Denver
• Combined, these results account for an ROI of $217 in incremental spending and $24 in incremental taxes for each $1 spent in advertising

Key Data from the 2024 Visitor Study

• Denver welcomed 37.1 million total visitors in 2024: 19.8 million overnight visitors and 17.3 million day visitors
• Overnight leisure visitors totaled 17.4 million in 2024. That includes a record 8.7 million "marketable" visitors, those most open to tourism promotions, a 14% increase over 2023
• Denver visitors spent $10.3 billion in 2024, including $8.7 billion from overnight visitors and an additional $1.7 billion in spending from day visitors
• Expenditures by overnight visitors averaged $437 per person per trip, an increase from 2023:
  • Transportation spending within the destination reached nearly $3 billion
  • Lodging spending hit almost $2.5 billion
  • Restaurant Food and Beverage spend reached nearly $1.5 billion
  • Retail Purchases totaled just over $1 billion, with 57% of visitors shopping at locally-owned businesses compared to 48% nationally
  • Recreation, Sightseeing and Entertainment expenditures totaled $735 million

The top four states originating overnight trips to Denver in 2024, outside of Colorado, were the same as 2023:

• Texas
• California
• Florida
• Arizona

The top five cities from outside of Colorado sending overnight visitors to Denver in 2024 were:

• Los Angeles
• New York
• Dallas-Ft. Worth
• Phoenix
• Chicago

Note: All are Visit Denver advertising markets 

The top-visited attractions for Denver visitors include a wide range of draws throughout the area.

Shopping & Entertainment:

• Cherry Creek area (Shopping Center & neighborhood)
  16th Street Mall
• "LoDo" Lower Downtown Historic District
• Denver Pavilions
• Outlets at Castle Rock
• Colorado Mills

Arts & Performing Arts:

• Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre
• Arts district/art gallery neighborhood
• Denver Performing Arts Complex

Paid Museums & Attractions:

• Denver Zoo
• Denver Museum of Nature & Science/Infinity Theater
• Downtown Aquarium
• Meow Wolf
• Denver Botanic Gardens
• Denver Art Museum

Sports Events & Activities:

• Colorado Rockies baseball
• Denver Broncos football
• Denver Nuggets basketball
• Colorado Mammoth lacrosse
• Colorado Avalanche hockey

All data is from the Longwoods International 2024 Annual Visitor Profile Study unless otherwise noted.

Looking Forward

• Visit Denver will continue to work with industry partners and experts to monitor international inbound travel, especially from Canada
• Forecasts suggest travelers plan to spend less on summer travel