Anaheim, Friday, 5 December 2025.
California’s major markets — notably San Francisco, Anaheim, Los Angeles and San Diego — are seeing a domestic travel surge that is reshaping demand-side economics for parks, hotels and adjacent retail. The most striking indicator: convention-related room nights in San Francisco are set to rise by more than 60% versus 2024, while domestic air traffic through the city jumped sharply, accelerating group and business travel recovery. For revenue managers and retail directors, higher ADR and tighter occupancy windows create clear upside in ancillary spend but also intensify pressure from rising labor costs and some of the nation’s highest combined lodging taxes (Anaheim and San Francisco among them). Municipalities stand to gain transient tax receipts, inviting both destination investment and new expectations for infrastructure and transport capacity around theme-park catchments. Practical priorities for 2026 planning cycles include tighter dynamic pricing, contract-labor recalibration, shifted capex timing, and proactive engagement with city stakeholders to protect guest experience and sustain visitation growth.