2022 was a record year for tourism in Pittsburgh.
With the country continuing to come out of the pandemic, Visit Pittsburgh says 2022 was a great year for travel to the Steel City.
“The leisure travel really led the recovery for Pittsburgh, but then beyond that we saw a lot of conventions coming back,” claims President and CEO of Visit Pittsburgh Jerad Bachar.
He says the area held 223 events throughout the year resulting in a record high of $266 million spent by visitors to the area and 3.8 million hotel stays in Allegheny County alone.
He adds always having something going on helps, “All year long you can take in all kinds of variety of experiences in Pittsburgh, whether it’s leisure festivals… any thing in the culture district, getting out on the gateway clipper, the zoo, kennywood. The list is so long of all the different opportunites.”
Bachar says it's also nice when big stars like Steve Carell say Pittsburgh is their favorite city, “That’s always a huge win for the destination.
We wouldn’t necessarily see a bump from it, but it does go a long way as a testimonial.”
Bachar says expect over $7 billion in visitor revenue this year, with or without Carell's comments, making 2023 an even better year.