San Diego Tourism

By Adam Hepburn, Michael Hernandez, and Elliott H. Jung 

San Diego has grown exponentially thanks to its vast array of tourist attractions. The popularity of attractions, such as the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld San Diego, and Legoland California in Carlsbad has led to an increase in the tourism industry for the city. 

San Diego has been deemed one of the largest cities in the United States, with a metro area population of 3,319,000. Tourism is also one of San Diego’s most prominent industries, employing over 214,000 residents. This city is known for its idyllic beaches and climate. Other popular areas to explore include Balboa Park, Mission Bay Aquatic Park, the Cabrillo National Monument, and Del Mar. 

San Diego is a rich area of culture and cuisine. The most popular cuisines in San Diego are seafood and Mexican food. In fact, San Diego is credited with being the birthplace of the popular California burrito. With 60% of California’s 90% domestically grown avocados being grown in San Diego, it has been formally acknowledged that San Diego grows the most avocados in the whole country. 

Many people do now know that San Diego is considered the the birthplace of California. Founded in 1769, San Diego was the site of the first Spanish settlement in California. To this day, San Diego holds many historical buildings and sites that can attest to its long and abundant history. 

When it comes to hotels, San Diego accommodates all types of travelers. As the city hosts 28.8 million visitors each year and is regarded a top US travel destination, visitors will always find a number of hotels, hostels, and other accommodations to rest on their excursions. In fact, there are a recorded 64,021 hotel rooms located across San Diego across 562 hotel, motel, bed + breakfast, and casino properties. 

Keeping up with a booming industry, there are many hotels under construction in the San Diego area. 2022 saw a rise in hotel development. Some of the biggest hotel construction projects currently underway in San Diego include the Gaylord Pacific Resort in Chula Vista, which will have 1,600 rooms, 1,600 parking spaces, and a convention center. Another construction project to accommodate extended-stay travelers is The Lindley. The plan for 59 extended-stay rooms will not be in a traditional hotel setting. Instead, these rooms will be part of a 37-story apartment tower near Little Italy. Visitors to San Diego will have many accommodation options to choose from!

A bustling city needs a variety of transportation options, too. There are different public transportation options to get to where you need to go in the area. The Pronto transportation system allows residents and visitors to travel by method of the San Diego trolley, bus, or a Coaster train. There is the east-west Sprinter light rail train system which takes passengers through Oceanside, Vista, Escondido, and San Marcos. The Pacific Surfliner travels all along the San Diego coastline, offering amazing views to travelers. 

Board your flight to and from San Diego through the San Diego International Airport. Between January and June 2022 alone, the airport had about 10.03 million passengers. San Diego International Airport offered 75 nonstop destinations for fliers, and has commercial services from Air Canada, Allegiant Air, American Airlines, British Airways, Frontier Airlines, Hawaii Airline, Japan Airlines, and many more. 

San Diego’s proximity to Mexico also allows for northbound travelers to hop back and forth from both countries. The most recent stats show that 2.2 million Northbound travelers were served by the Cross Border Xpress across the bridge from Tijuana Airport to San Diego. 

The airport also offers free shuttle services to different rental car businesses. Whether short term or for a longer period of time, many car rental services in San Diego can offer the services to suit any visitor’s needs.