They came, they saw, they spent a lot: Seattle tourism surges

They like us, they really like us: Seattle visitor numbers broke a record in 2012. (Photo by Ken Lambert, Seattle Times)

For the first time, the number of overnight visitor stays in the Seattle area has topped 10 million a year.

It was 10.2 million in 2012, to be precise, up 2.9 percent from the year before. And those visitors spent – a lot. They dropped more than $5.9 billion in the city and King County, according to Visit Seattle.

Those statistics are making for a happy annual meeting of Visit Seattle, the destination-marketing group that released the numbers Thursday.

Things are looking good this year, too, said a statement from Tom Norwalk, the Visit Seattle president and CEO. “Seattle and the region are well positioned for growth and may very well out pace many other destinations and the U.S. as a whole in 2013.”

Seattle hotels had a happy year, with more rooms filled in 2012 than in the past decade. Visitor occupancy was 78 percent.

Comments | More in Northwest | Topics: Seattle tourism, visit seattle

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About Us

Kristin Jackson, travel editor at The Seattle Times, grew up in Italy, went to university in Britain, and worked as a journalist in London and Vancouver, B.C., before migrating back to Seattle where she’s happy at her desk but way happier on the road.

Brian J. Cantwell, Outdoors editor at The Seattle Times, is a Seattle native who chose not to leave -- except for every chance he gets to go someplace interesting or adventurous. He lives on his sailboat at Shilshole Bay Marina.