Leon County is on track to see a record number of visitors this year, tourism experts predict.

In 2019, Leon County's tourism attracted 2.4 million visitors and spurred more than $1 billion in economic impact, according to a tourism impact report generated by Leon County's Division of Tourism.

Leon County saw 1.12 million visitors from Jan. 1 to March 30, resulting in $554 million in economic impact.

It's an encouraging sign, considering how tourism came to a screeching halt two years ago amid shutdowns triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, travelers are hopping on planes and hitting the road to visit family, convening for business meetings and attending conferences.

"The first six months of the year have been very, very strong," said Kerri Post, the head of Leon County's Division of Tourism and Visit Tallahassee. "Due to inflation, due to the gas prices, we see our rate of acceleration slowing down. But, we still see strong numbers."

Local businesses feel tourism uptick

From retail to restaurants, local businesses are seeing a noticeable increase in new customers.

Jmo's SneauxBall Catering Co. operates a drive-through location on North Monroe Street and a walk-in site on South Adams Street, near Florida A&M University.

His business is an ideal treat during the recent streak of sweltering days in Tallahassee. Owner Jarrett Maloy said he's seeing more new faces than ever before.

"We're actually seeing a consistent base of new customers coming in and out of the shop every day or at both locations," Maloy said, adding he believes people are finding out about his business through word of mouth.

It's a big boost, Maloy said. New people come in and they're getting a chance to experience the product, including its cheesecake-filled snowball.

Across town, the same approach rings true at Hearth & Soul, an upscale boutique department store disguised as an inviting, well-furnished home.

The retail concept for Hearth & Soul attracts curious customers who've heard glowing comments.

"We continue to see reoccurring customers, which of course is a core base of any retail business," co-owner Susie Busch-Transou said. "But, what we're also seeing is those friends of the store are bringing their friends when they're visiting Tallahassee to come and see us."

The store is also seeing an uptick in regional visitors, she said.

Located within a robust row of bustling businesses on Market Street, Hearth & Soul is next door to Chicken Salad Chick. Busch-Transou said many customers are coming in from Thomasville and Albany, Georgia, and in addition to customers trickling in from I-10 — all looking for a bite to eat and a shopping spree.

A drive-in tourism market

A visitor tracking report from January to March found 76% of visitors drove to Leon County, according to the Leon County Division of Tourism.

Tallahassee's tree-lined beauty and trails attracts nature lovers who yearn for the outdoors.

At Tallahassee Museum, the 52-acre outdoor exhibit logged more than 71,000 visitors so far during this 2021-2022 fiscal year. An additional 10,000 visitors participated in the museum's tree to tree aerial adventure zip line course.

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Tallahassee Museum President Russell Daws said the facility may be on track to break its own visitor record. In 2017-2018 fiscal year, the museum had approximately 93,000 visitors and 14,000 tree to tree visitors.

"Last fiscal year we almost beat that big year 2017 and 2018. But you know, we were still coming out COVID," Daws said. "So, this current year, things are doing really well."

Hotels bookings are on the rise

Post COVID-19 travel is up significantly and evident when checking in and out of hotels.

At the Holiday Inn Tallahassee E Capitol on Apalachee Parkway, the hotel's meeting 2,750 square-foot conference space is booked for months by businesses and organizations hosting large meetings.

"A lot of the conferences are booking now with the hotel to get back to that face-to-face experience, and maintaining those personal relationships that can only be done face to face," said Michael Kelly, the hotel's director of sales.

The Holiday Inn is among many hotels seeing an increase in business-related travel in the capital city, where the session attracts seasonal visitors.

Guests are paying more for hotel lodging. The average room hotel was $113.96 from January to March compared to $83.22 the same time last year — representing a 36.9 percentage point increase.

A visitor tracking report for the same time for the first quarter in 2022 shows 1 in 5 visitors came to Leon County for a sporting event and stayed in local hotels. Depending on the time of year, that number varies.

Still, Leon County's sports profile is strong and growing, even outside of football season.

Last year, Leon County and Florida State University hosted the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's and Women's Cross Country National Championships at Apalachee Regional Park — the first time the competition was held in Florida in the program's 83-year history.

"It's important for people to know, we are known for our outdoor recreation, our sports tournaments that we have throughout the year, but cross country is where we are truly setting the standard," Post said.

Contact TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com or follow @TaMarynWaters on Twitter. 

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Leon County tourism projected to break visitor record this year