Vancouver visitor statistics at a glance
Vancouver’s visitor economy is large enough to read like a regional industry report, not just a tourism headline. The numbers point to a city where visitors support jobs, airport traffic, hotel demand, convention activity, and tax revenue at the same time.
Key takeaways
- $8.9B in tourism revenues in 2024 and 11.2M overnight visitors show the scale of the visitor economy (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights).
- Visitor spending supported 60,000+ tourism jobs and generated $3.1B in labour income in 2024 (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights).
- Downtown Vancouver hotel performance remained strong, with 80% occupancy for Jan-Dec 2025 and $342 ADR for the same period (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights).
- The city’s broader pipeline and feasibility data suggest that hotel supply remains constrained, especially downtown, even as demand stays high (Hotel Community Impact Assessment).
- YVR handled 26.2M passengers in 2024, reinforcing how strongly air access and tourism are linked in the region (YVR marks second-highest passenger count in airport history, breaks cargo record in 2024).
Table of contents
- Vancouver visitor statistics in context
- Tourism revenue, jobs, and spending
- Airport traffic and arrival patterns
- Hotel performance and supply pressure
- Convention and event impact
- Long-run growth signals
- What the numbers suggest about Vancouver
Vancouver visitor statistics in context
The most useful way to read Vancouver visitor statistics is to treat them as a connected system.
Visitors arrive through the airport, cruise terminal, and convention calendar. They spend on hotels, food, attractions, and local transport. Those transactions show up later as revenue, jobs, labour income, tax receipts, and room-rate pressure.
That is why the supplied figures matter together rather than in isolation. A city can post a strong visitor total without having equally strong economic outcomes. Vancouver’s dataset shows both: a large visitor base and unusually visible downstream effects.
Fast facts
- 11.2M overnight visitors in 2024 (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights)
- $8.9B in tourism revenues in 2024 (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights)
- 60,000+ tourism jobs in 2024 (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights)
- $3.1B in labour income from tourism in 2024 (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights)
- 800+ members supporting Vancouver’s visitor economy (Destination Vancouver About Us)
- 2026 visitor economy goal: $8.5B (Destination Vancouver About Us)
Tourism revenue, jobs, and spending
Vancouver visitor statistics are easiest to understand when you start with the direct economic output.
The city recorded $8.9B in tourism revenues in 2024 (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights). That figure sits alongside 11.2M overnight visitors, which gives a rough sense of the spending volume behind the city’s visitor economy (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights).
Tourism also supported 60,000+ jobs and produced $3.1B in labour income in 2024 (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights). Those are not fringe effects. They indicate that tourism is an employment engine as well as a visitor category.
A useful way to read those numbers is to separate the economy into three layers:
- Visitor volume: how many people came.
- Direct revenue: how much money entered the tourism system.
- Labour effects: how much of that activity turned into work and income.
In Vancouver, all three appear sizable at the same time.
Big number: 2024 tourism revenue reached $8.9B (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights).
How residents view visitor value
The supplied survey numbers also show that tourism is not just a business story. It is a civic story.
- 79% of residents said visitors contribute to the local economy (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights).
- 18% were neutral on that contribution (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights).
- 3% disagreed (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights).
That split is important because it suggests the visitor economy has broad public legitimacy. When a city depends heavily on tourism, resident support matters for everything from event policy to hotel development and transportation planning.
Revenue and labour in one view
| Metric | 2024 figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Tourism revenues | $8.9B | Destination Vancouver Research & Insights |
| Overnight visitors | 11.2M | Destination Vancouver Research & Insights |
| Tourism jobs | 60,000+ | Destination Vancouver Research & Insights |
| Labour income | $3.1B | Destination Vancouver Research & Insights |
The table makes one point clear: Vancouver’s visitor economy is not narrowly about leisure travel. It is a material contributor to the regional labour market.
Airport traffic and arrival patterns
Airport data helps explain how Vancouver visitor statistics translate into actual demand.
YVR recorded 26.2M passengers in 2024, its second-highest passenger count in airport history, and that represented a 5% increase over 2023 (YVR marks second-highest passenger count in airport history, breaks cargo record in 2024). Passenger growth matters because air capacity is one of the strongest indicators of inbound demand.
The airport’s traffic mix also suggests broad-based recovery and expansion:
- Domestic travellers were up 0.3% in 2024 vs. 2023 (YVR marks second-highest passenger count in airport history, breaks cargo record in 2024).
- Transborder passengers rose 9.7% (YVR marks second-highest passenger count in airport history, breaks cargo record in 2024).
- International passengers rose 10.4% (YVR marks second-highest passenger count in airport history, breaks cargo record in 2024).
YVR also served 51 airlines and 120 destinations in 2024 (YVR marks second-highest passenger count in airport history, breaks cargo record in 2024). That destination breadth is a useful proxy for the depth of Vancouver’s connectivity as a tourism and business gateway.
Passenger mix snapshot
| Category | 2024 figure | Change vs. 2023 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total passengers | 26.2M | +5% | YVR marks second-highest passenger count in airport history, breaks cargo record in 2024 |
| Domestic | 12,857,619 | +0.3% | YVR 2024 Sustainability Report: ESG Performance |
| Transborder | 6,631,214 | +9.7% | YVR 2024 Sustainability Report: ESG Performance |
| International | 3,870,313 | +10.4% | YVR 2024 Sustainability Report: ESG Performance |
Those numbers indicate that Vancouver’s inbound profile is not relying on a single market segment. Domestic, transborder, and international demand are all contributing.
Why airport traffic matters for visitor statistics
Airport throughput affects the rest of the tourism chain:
- More passengers mean more potential hotel nights.
- More route options support convention bidding and business travel.
- More international capacity improves the city’s ability to attract long-haul visitors.
- More domestic traffic keeps the market balanced when international demand fluctuates.
YVR’s 93% overall customer satisfaction score in 2024 also suggests the airport experience is strong enough to support continued traffic growth (YVR 2024 Annual Report).
Hotel performance and supply pressure
Hotel data is where Vancouver visitor statistics become easiest to feel in the market.
Downtown Vancouver hotel occupancy reached 80% for Jan-Dec 2025, with ADR of $342 and RevPAR of $275 over the same period (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights). In December 2025 alone, downtown occupancy was 66%, ADR was $255, and RevPAR was $169 (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights).
Those figures show both strength and seasonality. Annual performance is high, but monthly results still move with the calendar.
Hotel benchmark table
| Measure | December 2025 | Jan-Dec 2025 | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Occupancy | 66% | 80% | Destination Vancouver Research & Insights |
| ADR | $255 | $342 | Destination Vancouver Research & Insights |
| RevPAR | $169 | $275 | Destination Vancouver Research & Insights |
A hotel market with 80% average annual occupancy is not a loose market (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights). It is a market where demand is close enough to supply to keep rates elevated and project economics under pressure.
Supply constraints and pipeline data
The supply side reinforces the same point.
As of March 2025, the City of Vancouver had 22 hotel development projects in the pipeline, representing 4,200 hotel rooms (Hotel Community Impact Assessment). About 60% of those pipeline rooms were new construction (Hotel Community Impact Assessment).
The same assessment says Vancouver needs an additional 10,000 hotel rooms between 2023 and 2050, and that this would mean more than a 70% increase from today’s inventory (Hotel Community Impact Assessment). It also notes that more than 90% of Vancouver’s hotel capacity is downtown, while nearly half of capacity is upscale or luxury (Hotel Community Impact Assessment).
That combination matters because it implies that the city’s hotel system is concentrated, premium-leaning, and difficult to expand quickly.
Buildout economics at a glance
- Hotel development could cost $900,000+ per key (Hotel Community Impact Assessment).
- Banks typically finance 60% to 70% of hotel projects (Hotel Community Impact Assessment).
- Up to 40% of development costs may need to come from equity (Hotel Community Impact Assessment).
- Rezoning hotel projects can extend timelines from 3-4 years to 5-7 years (Hotel Community Impact Assessment).
Those are not trivial constraints. They explain why strong visitor demand does not automatically translate into quick room-supply growth.
Hotel market signals that matter most
- Peak-season occupancy can reach 95% from April to September (Hotel Community Impact Assessment).
- Metro Vancouver ADR is $280 (Hotel Community Impact Assessment).
- Vancouver is approaching 80% average annual hotel occupancy (Hotel Community Impact Assessment).
- Comparable cities have average occupancy of 70% to 75% (Hotel Community Impact Assessment).
In plain terms, Vancouver sits at the high end of the occupancy range while still facing structural supply limits.
Convention and event impact
Convention and event traffic is a major part of Vancouver visitor statistics because it is high-value, concentrated demand.
In 2024, events generated $544M in economic output, including $338M in direct spending, $283M in GDP, 4,010 full-time equivalent jobs, and $87M in tax revenue across all levels of government (Destination Vancouver media release: New report from Destination Vancouver shows events generated more than $544 million in economic output for Vancouver in 2024).
Those events also attracted 198,000 overnight visitors, and 82% of the impact was generated by visitor spending (Destination Vancouver media release: New report from Destination Vancouver shows events generated more than $544 million in economic output for Vancouver in 2024).
That last figure is especially useful. It shows that events do not just create local circulation; they bring in outside money.
Event economy summary
| Event metric | 2024 figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Economic output | $544M | Destination Vancouver media release: New report from Destination Vancouver shows events generated more than $544 million in economic output for Vancouver in 2024 |
| Direct spending | $338M | Destination Vancouver media release: New report from Destination Vancouver shows events generated more than $544 million in economic output for Vancouver in 2024 |
| GDP | $283M | Destination Vancouver media release: New report from Destination Vancouver shows events generated more than $544 million in economic output for Vancouver in 2024 |
| Jobs supported | 4,010 FTE | Destination Vancouver media release: New report from Destination Vancouver shows events generated more than $544 million in economic output for Vancouver in 2024 |
| Tax revenue | $87M | Destination Vancouver media release: New report from Destination Vancouver shows events generated more than $544 million in economic output for Vancouver in 2024 |
| Overnight visitors | 198,000 | Destination Vancouver media release: New report from Destination Vancouver shows events generated more than $544 million in economic output for Vancouver in 2024 |
Convention history shows the pattern is durable
The historic data points in the dataset show that Vancouver has been building this market for years:
- In 2016, Vancouver hosted 29 citywide conventions that attracted about 160,000 attendees (Destination Vancouver article: Vancouver Sets New Tourism Record With More Than 10 Million Visitors in 2016).
- In 2018, Tourism Vancouver and convention partners hosted 36 citywide conventions and events, drawing over 105,000 visitors (Destination Vancouver media release: Fifth consecutive record year).
That pattern matters because conventions usually create a high-yield visitor mix: attendees, support staff, exhibitors, and longer stays tied to business travel patterns.
Long-run growth signals
The clearest long-run signal is that Vancouver visitor statistics have been rising over time even when individual markets fluctuate.
In 2016, Vancouver exceeded 10M overnight visitors (Destination Vancouver article: Vancouver Sets New Tourism Record With More Than 10 Million Visitors in 2016). By 2018, the city welcomed 10.7M overnight visitors (Destination Vancouver media release: Fifth consecutive record year). In 2024, overnight visitors reached 11.2M (Destination Vancouver Research & Insights). Destination Vancouver also listed 11.3M overnight visitors for 2025 and an 8.8B tourism revenue figure for 2025, alongside a 2026 visitor economy goal of $8.5B (Destination Vancouver About Us).
That sequence suggests a visitor economy that has been able to expand across cycles rather than depend on one isolated boom year.
Market momentum by year
| Year | Overnight visitors | Related note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 10M+ | First major record in the dataset | Destination Vancouver article: Vancouver Sets New Tourism Record With More Than 10 Million Visitors in 2016 |
| 2018 | 10.7M | Fifth consecutive record year | Destination Vancouver media release: Fifth consecutive record year |
| 2024 | 11.2M | Tourism revenues reached $8.9B | Destination Vancouver Research & Insights |
| 2025 | 11.3M | Listed by Destination Vancouver | Destination Vancouver About Us |
The table does not show a straight line every single year, but it does show a clear upward frame over time.
Inbound market detail also points to breadth
The older market breakdowns show that Vancouver’s appeal spans source markets:
- China visitation increased 6.4% in 2018 to 323,629 (Destination Vancouver media release: Fifth consecutive record year).
- The United States delivered 2,505,937 overnight visitors to Metro Vancouver in 2018 (Destination Vancouver media release: Fifth consecutive record year).
- Mexico visitation grew 11.5% in 2018 to 168,572 overnight visitors (Destination Vancouver media release: Fifth consecutive record year).
- In 2016, U.S. visitation grew 9.8%, Mexico grew 33.4%, Australia grew 21.1%, China grew 18.2%, the UK grew 17.3%, and South Korea grew 14.6% (Destination Vancouver article: Vancouver Sets New Tourism Record With More Than 10 Million Visitors in 2016).
That market mix matters because it reduces dependence on a single feeder market and makes the visitor economy more resilient.
What the numbers suggest about Vancouver
Taken together, the supplied Vancouver visitor statistics describe a city with:
- Strong total visitor volume.
- Large tourism revenue.
- Meaningful employment and income effects.
- Deep airport connectivity.
- A hotel market that stays tight under pressure.
- A convention and event sector that creates measurable economic output.
- Long-run growth that has persisted across multiple years.
The strongest single reading is that Vancouver is not just attracting visitors. It is converting those visits into an economy with clear spillovers into labour, hotels, airports, and tax receipts.
That is why the current numbers matter beyond tourism reporting. They are a snapshot of how much of Vancouver’s broader economic story is tied to visitor demand, and how constrained the city can become when room supply, airport flow, and event demand all rise together.