Img 7461 1 Alabama Tourism, Mobile, Sweet Home Alabama — Bienville Square in downtown Mobile. (Liv George / The Bama Buzz)

Visit Mobile, the tourism board in Mobile, presented some exciting numbers to the City Council this morning – a highly favorable 2023 Economic Impact Report, which tallies how many visitors came to and spent money in cities around the state.

Keep reading and we’ll dive into the numbers in Mobile and quickly touch on how other areas of the state stack up.

By the numbers

Dji 20240327 123603 994 Alabama Tourism, Mobile, Sweet Home Alabama — Saenger Theatre in Mobile (Liv George / The Bama Buzz)

3.4 Million visitors, 3% more than in 2022
$1.8 Billion spent, almost $100 million more than 2023
112,000 Hotels + accommodations booked by Visit Mobile, a new record

Looking ahead

Img 4764 Alabama Tourism, Mobile, Sweet Home Alabama — The new Civic Center is expected to give tourism a boost. (Liv George / The Bama Buzz)

Visit Mobile boasts record-breaking growth, but that doesn’t mean the job is done.

“Our goal of 5 million visitors by 2027 is aggressive and obtainable.”
David Clark, Visit Mobile

There are a few big projects the tourism board expects to boost those numbers:

Mobile International Airport
Civic Center Arena Complex
Continued Waterfront and Downtown Development
Heritage Tourism Asset Development
Convention Center upgrades
Cruise, Air Service and Amtrak developments

These projects are expected to largely wrap up by 2026, just in time to hit those record tourism numbers by 2027.

Visit Mobile is renewing the Tourism Improvement District (TID) for a fifth year. This collaborative effort between businesses and City officials helps bring more consumers downtown. Mobile established the first TID in the state and other areas look to Mobile when establishing their own.

The big picture

Birminghammorning 6 Alabama Tourism, Mobile, Sweet Home Alabama — Birmingham saw decent growth, too! (Nathan Watson / The Bama Buzz)

Alabama had record-breaking growth in the tourism sector for 2023. Almost 30 million people visited the Yellowhammer state, spending $23.5 billion. Baldwin County, home to Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, brought in the most tourists – and money.

According to the report by Sweet Home Alabama, these are the top five counties tourists flocked to in 2023: