It is my pleasure to share the 2025 Visit Anaheim Annual Report, reflecting a year defined by disciplined execution, sustained recovery in key markets, and continued advancement of Anaheim and Garden Grove as globally competitive destinations for leisure travel, conventions, meetings, and sports.
In 2025, Visit Anaheim’s work continued to center on one core objective: converting awareness and interest into measurable visitation and long-term economic value for our destination. Through coordinated efforts across destination sales, marketing, communications, public relations, and industry partnerships, we strengthened Anaheim’s position in an increasingly competitive global marketplace while expanding the pipeline of future group and leisure business.
Our convention sales efforts delivered strong long-term results, securing high-value bookings that extend Anaheim’s momentum well into future years. These achievements reinforce the strength of our hotel partners, the appeal of our meeting infrastructure, and the confidence clients continue to place in our destination.
On the marketing and communications side, 2025 was marked by campaigns and content programs that deepened engagement across domestic and international audiences, translating attention into visitation and on-the-ground economic impact across hotels, restaurants, attractions, and small businesses throughout Anaheim and Garden Grove.
As we look ahead, our focus remains on building durable demand through innovation, strategic partnerships, and destination storytelling that reflects both the evolution of our community and the expectations of today’s travelers and meeting planners. We will continue to invest in programs that strengthen our competitiveness, support our partners, and enhance the visitor experience across the destination.
Thank you for your continued collaboration and commitment to Anaheim and Garden Grove.
Sincerely,
Mike Waterman President & CEO | Visit Anaheim
2025 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Fred Brown, Chair
Desert Palms Hotel & Suites
Sergio Bocci
Hilton Anaheim
Bharat Patel, Treasurer Castle Inn & Suites
Mike Waterman, Secretary Visit Anaheim
Lynn Clark
Disneyland® Resort
Justin Hart
Sheraton Park Anaheim Resort
Steve Pastor Great Wolf Lodge
Clark Jones
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts U.S.
John Kalinski
Marriott International
Rod Hurt
Delta Hotels Anaheim and Garden Grove
Ursula Luna-Reynosa City of Garden Grove
Tom Morton
Anaheim Convention Center
William O’Connell Jr. O’Connell Hotels & Hospitality
Kim Painter
Anaheim Majestic Garden Hotel
Ajesh Patel
Prospera Hotels, Inc.
Paul Sanford Wincome Hospitality
Jim Vanderpool City of Anaheim
Nicholas Price
The Westin Anaheim Resort
Dieter Hissin
Embassy Suites by Hilton Anaheim
South
Brent Finley Community Representative
Kristine Hall
Hyatt Regency Orange County
Katie Pederson
OCVIBE
Mike Afram
Karmel Shuttle
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Visit Anaheim’s mission is to bring visitors, meetings, and conventions to Anaheim and Garden Grove, and in 2025 that work paid off across the board. Anaheim welcomed 26.5 million visitors, up 0.9 percent over the prior year. Those visitors spent $6.8 billion directly in our community, supporting a total economic impact of $10.4 billion and 67,817 jobs. Visitor spending also generated $1.0 billion in state and local taxes, including $234 million in hotel taxes, money that helps fund local services without coming from residents’ pockets. Visitation in 2026 is forecast to reach 26.6 million, an all-time high.
CONVENTIONS, MEETINGS AND INTERMEDIARY SALES
Our convention sales team booked 84 conventions and events in 2025. Together they are expected to fill 740,000 hotel room nights and generate an estimated $30.8 million in hotel tax revenue for the City of Anaheim. In addition, 68 groups held their events here during the year, filling 480,000 room nights and generating $17.5 million in hotel taxes. The team also won repeat, multi-year commitments from 11 of the country’s largest conventions, and a new focus on sports brought 21 sporting events to the city, including a partnership with USA Volleyball.
Our meeting sales team, which works with smaller groups, confirmed 211 meetings bringing 110,400 attendees, 170,000 hotel room nights, and $6.2 million in hotel taxes. Our VALET program continues to evolve, giving every local hotel a dedicated contact on the Visit Anaheim sales team so each property has someone advocating for its business.
estimated $12.4 million. Imaginagency, a summer campaign with actress Tia Mowry that let kids plan family vacations, brought in $822,500 in bookings.
Our communications team earned news and social media coverage that was seen 2.7 billion times. Partnerships with 66 social media personalities and events with VidCon and WWE Monday Night RAW put Anaheim in front of new audiences.
Our tourism team works with airlines, OTAs, and tour operators around the world; those partnerships filled 606,200 hotel room nights. We opened a new office in the United Kingdom in May, and a sales trip to Mexico featuring Mayor Aitken and CEO Mike Waterman earned news coverage that reached 128.6 million people, exposure that would have cost $3.65 million to buy as advertising.
DESTINATION SERVICES AND EVENTS
Once a convention books Anaheim, our services team helps it succeed. The team supported 91 groups in 2025 and earned a client satisfaction score of 9.05 out of 10. Destination Services highlights included servicing the NAMM Show, which drew 63,000 attendees, its largest crowd since the pandemic, and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Leadership Seminar, whose attendees gave more than 76,000 hours of volunteer service to Anaheim organizations during their visit. We also grew our network of local business partners to 407 companies, with 80 percent staying with us year over year, generating $1.5 million in revenue.
COMMUNITY
2025 was also a milestone year for intermediary sales, our work with the companies that plan meetings on behalf of corporations. Under our first-ever Vice President of Intermediary Strategy, we signed new partnership agreements with BCD and Prestige, strengthened sponsorships with Maritz, HelmsBriscoe, and HPN, and launched Primetime with Anaheim, our first client event built exclusively for these partners. The results followed: Anaheim ranked among ConferenceDirect’s Top 25 booked destinations with $15 million in room revenue, a FIRST in our organization’s history, and the team secured three future industry events, advancing our plan to bring 20,000 meeting professionals to the destination over the next five years.
MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS AND TOURISM
Our advertising reached potential visitors 193.5 million times in 2025 and brought more than 1.4 million of them to Anaheim, generating over 217,000 hotel room nights and $110.4 million in spending we can trace directly back to our campaigns. Highlights included Here We Go, our main campaign, drove $56 million in traceable spending; The Greatest Luxury of All, aimed at higher-spending travelers added $35.4 million; and ¡Aquí Vamos! our first campaign created specifically for Hispanic visitors, turned a $90,000 investment into an
Our staff volunteered 555 hours in the community, supporting the Anaheim Resort Toy Drive, a three-year YMCA partnership, and local festivals in both Anaheim and Garden Grove. We introduced 2,100 high school students to careers in hospitality, and our Certified Tourism Ambassador program, which trains local hotel, restaurant, and attraction employees to be knowledgeable guides for visitors, trained 315 new people in its 17th year and has now certified more than 6,000 CTAs since program inception.
A STRONG FOUNDATION FOR 2026
None of this happened in an easy year. International visitation fell 47.2 percent in 2025, and our team answered with fast-moving campaigns and new sales strategies that kept domestic travel growing and total visitation above the prior year. That resilience, together with the partnership of our Board, our 407 local business partners, and the cities of Anaheim and Garden Grove, is why visitation in 2026 is forecast to set a record.
The results in this report belong to everyone who welcomes a visitor to our destination, from the front desk to the convention floor, and we are grateful to each of you. The work continues, and the best is ahead.
CONVENTION SALES
The Visit Anaheim Convention Sales Team successfully attracted and confirmed a diverse portfolio of major conventions and trade shows, strengthening Anaheim’s position in key market segments. Strategic partnerships with organizations such as Corporate Event Marketing Association (CEMA), Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), Financial & Insurance Conference Professionals (FICP), and Trade Show Executive enhanced industry visibility, while Board-supported buy-down funding helped offset convention center rental costs, improving competitiveness.
In Q1 2025, the team completed a citywide sales strategy project with 2Synergize, resulting in high-value RFP
opportunities and stronger alignment with business development efforts. The team secured 18 booking years across 11 accounts within the nation’s Top 250 conventions, reflecting a focused, data-driven approach to long-term growth.
Additionally, with a new Convention Sales Director for Sports Development, the team expanded its presence in the sports market. Partnerships with USA Volleyball and others led to the confirmation of seven large and fourteen small citywide sporting events in 2025, reinforcing Anaheim’s growing reputation as a premier destination for sports and e-sports events.
Bookings
ACTUALIZED BUSINESS
SALES HIGHLIGHTS
Industry Events Attended
MEETING SALES
Through TID Funding, the Meeting Sales Team was able to participate in the following tradeshows and conferences:
The 2025 year marked another transformative chapter for Visit Anaheim’s Meeting Sales Team. In our continued pursuit of excellence and alignment with the evolving needs of our clients and community, we undertook a strategic reinvention of our team structure, programs, and partnerships to strengthen Anaheim and Garden Grove’s position as a premier meeting destinations. The most significant markers this year were the eventual sunset of the Meetings Momentum Program and the continued evolution of the VALET (Visit Anaheim Local Engagement Team) Program.
The Meetings Momentum Program provided a compelling destination incentive that allowed Anaheim and Garden Grove to stand out in a highly competitive marketplace. The program success helped drive new group business to Anaheim and Garden Grove hotels for groups that were considering hotels outside our destination.
The VALET Program (Visit Anaheim Local Engagement Team), while launched in 2024, became a more robust, structured initiative which translated into a relationship-driven tool which created stronger, more personalized connections between our sales team and our hotel community. Through VALET, each sales manager is assigned a portfolio of local Anaheim area hotels to champion, ensuring every property has a dedicated advocate who understands their needs, communicates their value, and serves as their direct link to Visit Anaheim resources and opportunities.
Together, these initiatives strengthened our partnership across the destination. As we look ahead, the foundation built this year positions the Meeting Sales Team for continued growth, collaboration, and success in attracting worldclass meetings and conventions to Anaheim.
In-person sales calls were facilitated in:
• San Diego, CA
• Sacramento, CA
• Orange County, CA
• New York, NY
Hosted Client Events included:
• San Francisco NBA Game Client Event – San Francisco, CA
• Broadway Show Client Event – New York, NY
• Ducks Hockey Game – Dallas, TX
Meeting Sales Team and Convention Sales Team collaboration also included:
• Visit California/ Atlanta Events – Atlanta, GA
• Northwestern Destination Update – San Francisco/ San Jose, CA
• Synchronicities Holiday Dinner – Chicago, IL
The Meeting Sales Events
The team conducted a total of 483 presentations during the calendar year. The team also attended 10 industry events and connected with more than 625 planners and industry professionals.
LAS VEGAS
INTERMEDIARY SALES
2025 was a foundational year for intermediary sales, marked by the creation of Visit Anaheim’s first-ever Vice President of Intermediary Strategy role. With dedicated leadership in place, the team delivered several organizational firsts:
• Expanded intermediary engagement through new partnership agreements with BCD and Prestige, while enhancing existing sponsorships with Maritz, HelmsBriscoe, and HPN.
• Secured three future industry events for Anaheim, advancing our plan to bring 20,000 meeting professionals to the destination over the next five years.
• Launched Primetime with Anaheim, Visit Anaheim’s first client event built exclusively for intermediary partners. The in-market event brought top intermediary clients together with our convention hotel partners and was a resounding success.
• Ranked among ConferenceDirect’s Top 25 booked destinations with $15 million in room revenue for 2025, a first for Visit Anaheim.
DESTINATION SERVICES & EVENTS
DESTINATION SERVICES
In 2025, the Destination Services team continued elevating Anaheim’s convention experience through enhanced operational coordination, personalized client support, and strengthened stakeholder collaboration. Through strategic servicing efforts, planning engagement, and citywide coordination, the team supported major conventions and events that reinforced Anaheim’s position as a premier meetings destination.
Featured Event Highlights
NAMM Show
Welcomed 63,000 attendees to Anaheim - highest attendance since the COVID-19 recovery.
Pokémon World Championships
Exceeded projected attendance and generated strong citywide engagement.
Natural Products Expo West
Successful return under new event date pattern with strong attendee participation.
Alpha Kappa Alpha Leadership Seminar
Nearly 10,000 attendees participated, including 76,000+ community service hours supporting Anaheim organizations.
DESTINATION SERVICES
In 2025, the Events team expanded Visit Anaheim’s industry visibility and partner relationships through strategic event experiences, enhanced trade show presence, and high-impact activations. From industry conferences and hosted events to signature partner programs, events were designed to elevate the Anaheim brand and deliver measurable engagement and ROI.
Featured Event Highlights
Annual Meeting
Highest attendance to date with 526 attendees and 98.1% overall event satisfaction.
IMEX
17,000 attendees and largest exhibition floor in event history, generating 500+ lead scans through partner participation.
PCMA Convening Leaders
Strengthened industry visibility through “The District” activation and hosted engagement events.
Primetime with Anaheim
Launched inaugural intermediary sales event program focused on engagement and relationship building.
EVENTS IMPACT & ENGAGEMENT
80+ Event Programs Delivered
97% Event Program Satisfaction
526
Annual Meeting Attendees
CALENDAR YEAR
500+ IMEX Lead Scans
MARKETING
LEISURE MARKETING
In 2025, Visit Anaheim executed a full-year paid digital advertising plan built around four distinct campaigns, each with its own audience, season, and purpose.
Together they delivered a consistent and compelling message across eleven major markets in the Western United States, reaching families, multi-generational travelers, and Hispanic audiences at every stage of their travel planning journey.
The results reflect not only the strength of our destination product but the power of a focused, strategic marketing approach that speaks to the right traveler at the right moment.
Visit Anaheim’s 2025 marketing programs reached millions of potential visitors across the Western United States, driving real economic impact for our hotels, restaurants, attractions, and retail partners.
Bringing Visitors to Anaheim
Four leisure campaigns ran throughout the year, targeting families, multi-generational travelers, and Hispanic audiences across 11 markets. Together they generated over 129 million impressions and brought more than 1.4 million visitors to the destination, contributing $110.4 million in revenue to the local economy. A standout moment was the launch of ¡Aquí Vamos! our first-ever campaign dedicated to Hispanic travelers, which delivered exceptional returns and opened an important new audience for Anaheim.
Attracting Upscale Travelers
Our luxury campaign, “The Greatest Luxury of All,” positioned Anaheim as a premier destination for high-value family travel across six major U.S. cities. It reached nearly 486,000 destination visitors and generated $35.4 million in trackable revenue for the community.
Keeping Anaheim Visible
Digital billboards, airport placements, and transit advertising kept the Anaheim brand front and center across Southern California, delivering 62 million impressions at key arrival points and drive corridors throughout the year.
Growing the Meetings Business
Targeted outreach to meeting and event planners generated over 2,300 qualified leads, supporting Anaheim’s convention economy alongside our leisure tourism.
Connecting with Travelers Directly
Our email program reached nearly 1.2 million subscribers with an open rate almost double the travel industry average. Four digital savings pass programs attracted 6,100 sign-ups, and 125,000 destination guides were distributed across 350+ locations, including international markets in Canada, Australia, and Latin America.
BRAND CAMPAIGN | JANUARY - DECEMBER 2025
Here We Go
“Here We Go!” was Visit Anaheim’s anchor brand campaign for 2025, running across programmatic display, travel intent platforms, and OTA partnerships.
The campaign reached families and multi-generational travelers across Southern California, the Bay Area, the Pacific Northwest, the Southwest, and Texas with a single, universal message: there is no better place to make memories than Anaheim.
The creative platform connected with Disney fans, millennial parents, and multi-generational travel planners through a consistent brand voice while allowing individual channels to optimize for their audiences.
The result: more than 100 million impressions, hundreds of thousands of destination visits, and the majority of the program’s $110.4 million in combined attributed revenue.
HERE WE GO CAMPAIGN RESULTS
Imaginagency
As summer reached its peak, Visit Anaheim introduced Imaginagency.
Launched in May 2025, in partnership with actress Tia Mowry, Imaginagency put kids in charge of planning the ultimate Anaheim vacation. Six young “Imaginagents” created six unique, bookable itineraries that captured everything magical about Anaheim through kid’s eyes.
The Marketing Team supported the campaign by executing paid media from July through September across Adgenuity and GetAway Today as our booking partner.
Imaginagency demonstrated the power of video-led creative at scale. The Adgenuity-driven campaign achieved an 84% video completion rate, the highest of any channel in the 2025 program, reflecting content that genuinely engaged audiences rather than simply serving impressions.
GetAway Today’s Imaginagency-branded package campaign converted that engagement into 1,496 confirmed room nights of the 1,708 booked nights, ensuring the creative investment translated into real economic benefit for Anaheim’s hotel community.
SEASONAL DEMAND CAMPAIGN | JUNE, JULY & AUGUST 2025
100 Days ‘Til Summer
100 Days ‘Til Summer was one of two targeted seasonal demand campaigns designed to strengthen visitation and room night performance during periods that benefit most from an intentional marketing push.
Launching in the spring and building momentum through the early summer window of June, July, and August, the campaign gave value-seeking families a clear and timely
reason to act: summer in Anaheim is waiting, and the clock is ticking.
The campaign generated 3,348 room nights at an average daily rate of $240, producing $1.8 million in combined room night and non-room revenue for the Anaheim destination economy.
100 DAYS
‘TIL
SUMMER CAMPAIGN RESULTS
MARKET CAMPAIGN | SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER 2025
¡Aquí Vamos!
¡Aquí Vamos! marked a defining moment in Visit Anaheim’s marketing evolution: the launch of our first dedicated Hispanic market campaign.
The results exceeded expectations across every measurable dimension. On TripAdvisor, where Hispanic travelers actively research and compare destinations, ¡Aquí Vamos! achieved a 0.68% click-through rate, the highest of any channel in the entire 2025 program and generated a return on investment of $139 for every dollar invested.
Epsilon’s Hispanic programmatic campaign attributed nearly 12,500 room nights and delivered an Anaheim ROAS of $110:1.
Combined, the initiative
¡AQUÍ VAMOS! CAMPAIGN RESULTS
SEASONAL DEMAND CAMPAIGN JANUARY & FEBRUARY TRAVEL
Secret Savings Season
Secret Savings Season was Visit Anaheim’s second targeted seasonal demand campaign, designed to generate room nights and visitation during January and February, two of the most challenging months on the destination calendar.
The campaign generated 2,424 room nights at an average daily rate of $244, producing $591,456 in room night revenue and $625,044 in non-room revenue for a combined economic contribution of approximately $1.2 million to the Anaheim community.
Seasonal demand campaigns like Secret Savings Season and 100 Days ‘Til Summer are essential tools for a destination committed to building year-round economic vitality for our hotel partners, restaurants, attractions, and retail community.
Revenue figures represent combined attributed room night, and non-room revenue as Epsilon, TripAdvisor, and GetAway Today across all 2025 campaign periods.
2025 CALENDAR YEAR
PHASE TWO | JULY - OCTOBER 2025 Scaling Into the Peak Season
H2 expanded to a full channel mix including Epsilon Core, Epsilon Incremental, Adgenuity, Adgenuity Incremental, and the extended Media Plan, delivering 43 million impressions and 388,297 observed visits.
The two Epsilon flights generated $23.4 million in combined trackable revenue and 12,297 room nights at an estimated $450 average daily rate, with Anaheim ROAS ranging from $100:1 to $111:1.
The Media Plan achieved a 1.38% CTR and 3.61% visit rate, the strongest engagement metrics in the luxury portfolio.
LUXURY MARKETING
In 2025, Visit Anaheim extended “The Greatest Luxury of All,” campaign, our dedicated program designed to position Anaheim as a premier destination for upscale family and multi-generational travelers.
Running January through October across programmatic display, digital media, and content channels, the campaign reached affluent travel planners across Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Seattle, Chicago, and Dallas with a message that is uniquely Anaheim’s to make: that time together in a place built for wonder is the greatest luxury of all.
With $35.4 million in combined attributed revenue, nearly 486k destination visits, and a creative platform that elevated Anaheim’s premium positioning across six high-value markets, “The Greatest Luxury of All” established a strong foundation for growing Anaheim’s share of the upscale family travel segment in the years ahead.
LEISURE OUT OF HOME
Visit Anaheim’s 2025 Leisure OOH program focused the destination’s message in prominent arrival points: SNA airport, ATN transit buses and well-traveled highways into the destination.
Across four placement partners in Orange County, the Coachella Valley, and San Diego, the program delivered more than 62 million impressions to general market, luxury, and multi-generational audiences throughout the year.
PHASE ONE JANUARY - JUNE 2025
The Greatest Luxury of All
The first half of the program launched through Epsilon programmatic display, Viant, and a digital Media Plan entering market in May, delivering 20.9 million impressions and 97,629 observed destination visits.
Epsilon generated $11.99 million in combined trackable revenue. Viant contributed 39,429 additional observed visits and achieved an 81.89% video completion rate, among the strongest creative engagement figures in the full 2025 program.
MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS MARKETING
Visit Anaheim’s 2025 Meetings and Conventions marketing program ran March through December across trade publications, programmatic display, and social media, keeping Anaheim’s convention story in front of professional planners and group buyers throughout the year.
The program generated 7.4 million impressions, 17,125 website sessions, and 2,330 qualified leads, with multiple channel partners exceeding their CTR benchmarks.
Also in 2025, Visit Anaheim introduced white papers into its Meetings and Conventions strategy, using original research and industry insights to build credibility and establish Visit Anaheim as a thought leader among meeting planners.
TRADE
PUBLICATIONS MARCH - DECEMBER 2025
Reaching Planners Where They Read
Five of the meetings industry’s most trusted media brands carried the Anaheim message throughout the year.
Meetings Today was the standout performer, generating 2,309 qualified leads at a 3.06% CTR against a 0.12-0.15% benchmark.
The debut paper, “The Bleisure Boom Is Here. Is Your Event Strategy Ready?”, gained industry recognition when Maritz referenced it in their NextGen-Proofing Your Destination report, and led to a speaking opportunity for CEO Mike Waterman at a CEO Summit.
WHITE PAPERS
Leading the Conversation
In 2025, we integrated white papers into our meetings and conventions content strategy, strengthening Visit Anaheim’s position as a trusted thought leader in the industry.
By addressing timely trends and insights relevant to meeting planners, these pieces build brand credibility, deepen industry engagement, and keep Anaheim top of mind as a forward-thinking destination for meetings and events.
The strategy delivered measurable recognition in its first year:
Our white paper, The Bleisure Boom Is Here. Is Your Event Strategy Ready?, was well received by Maritz executives and cited in their NextGen-Proofing Your Destination report.
WHITE PAPER RESULTS
Skift Meetings achieved a 0.96% CTR, nearly ten times its 0.10% benchmark, and Smart Meetings delivered 1.53% CTR across display, email, and social.
Black Meetings and Tourism posted a 29.23% newsletter open rate, and Prevue added further digital reach across the planner audience.
PROGRAMMATIC & SOCIAL | MARCH - DECEMBER 2025
Compass / Viant & LinkedIn
Compass/Viant’s programmatic display delivered 5.24 million combined impressions across two flights, exceeding the 0.10% CTR benchmark and generating more than 8,000 website sessions.
LinkedIn ran as the always-on social channel across the full campaign window, reaching meeting planner professionals with image, carousel, and video formats at a 0.54% CTR above its 0.48% benchmark, driving 2,476 sessions and 21 direct leads.
M + C MARKETING RESULTS
7.4M+ Total Impressions 2.3K Leads Generated 17K Website Sessions
CALENDAR YEAR
VISIT ANAHEIM MEXICO MISSION
TRAVEL TRADE ENGAGEMENT
Visit Anaheim led 7 partner-inclusive events and additionally represented the destination at 13 travel industry trade shows, sales missions, and events, including those organized by Brand USA and Visit California.
Reached 4,839 Travel Trade from over 15 countries.
SALES MISSIONS, TRADE SHOWS & EVENTS
TRAVEL TRADE ENGAGEMENT
4,839
Travel Trade from over 15 countries
TRADE SHOWS • SALES MISSIONS • EVENTS
Visit Anaheim organized events with Partner Participation
Getaway Today Staff and Influencerin market partner trade show
Getaway Today Appreciation Event
IPW Chicago - Visit Anaheim Booth
IPW Chicago - Club Anaheim Client event
Local Travel Trade Luncheon
Disney Days - Australia/New Zealand
Visit Anaheim Mexico Sales Mission
Visit Anaheim Destination Representation at Travel Industry
Go West Summit
Brand USA B2B Sydney, Australia
Brand USA New Zealand Expo (2 cities)
Visit USA Australia Expos (3 cities)
Visit California Reverse Mexico Mission
Visit California Reverse Canada Mission
Brand USA Canada Connect West
Costco Travel HQ visit
Visit California Pan Euro Mission
SYTA Annual Conference
Brand USA Travel Week UK & Europe
Visit California CEO Mission Australia
Visit California CEO Mission Canada
1,000 Domestic and International buyers. 550 Media from 60 countries. 15 partners exhibited on Visit Anaheim booth. Met with 166 key buyers and engaged with 180 additional buyers during our client event Club Anaheim.
This high-level sales mission featured Mayor Aitken’s welcoming message and highlighted Anaheim’s ties to Mexico, with partners engaging key tour operators, influencers, and travel agencies. The mission also generated broad media coverage - including interviews with Mayor Aitken and Mike Waterman - and a meeting with Guadalajara’s Mayor to launch sister-city discussions.
WEBINAR/TRAINING
With our international representative office and Visit California’s international teams, the Tourism Team delivered 19 webinars and trainings across five countries to build awareness and drive Anaheim and Garden Grove bookings. Our UK, Australia, and New Zealand offices also launched quarterly newsletters to travel agency databases.
FAMS
Partnering with Brand USA, Visit California and various airline partners, the tourism team hosted 17 in market fams including Travel advisors and travel trade media from Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
COMMUNITY RELATIONS
Visit Anaheim actively cultivates meaningful community partnerships by engaging strategically with local organizations and government agencies. This approach not only builds trust but also encourages ongoing collaboration, ensuring that the needs and interests of the community are addressed. Through these efforts, Visit Anaheim creates a foundation for joint initiatives and shared successes that benefit both residents and stakeholders across the region.
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
• Mexico Sales Mission with Anaheim Mayor
• NAMM Celebration with Elected City Officials
• 555 staff hours dedicated to community service
• Integrated marketing & community relations efforts
Notable initiatives:
• Anaheim Resort Toy Drive District 4
• Three-year YMCA partnership
• Hospitality Career Development at Anaheim and Garden Grove High Schools
• Support for local events:
Strawberry Festival
Anaheim Fall Festival & Parade Foods of Garden Grove
Through this variety of initiatives Visit Anaheim actively fosters stronger connections within the community. These efforts not only bolster local programs and events but also ensures that Visit Anaheim’s contributions remain responsive to the changing priorities and needs of the region, ultimately making a lasting positive impact.
CERTIFIED TOURISM AMBASSADOR PROGRAM
The Certified Tourism Ambassador (CTA) Program is a national credential designed to elevate the expertise of tourism and hospitality professionals, with a special focus on front-line staff at hotels, restaurants, and attractions. Through comprehensive training in local history, geography, points of interest, and customer service excellence, participants learn how to consistently deliver outstanding experiences to visitors. The program also highlights area events and lesser-known attractions, empowering CTAs to offer valuable, informed recommendations. Upon successful completion of the coursework and certification exam, participants earn recognition as trusted local experts, committed to enriching every guest’s visit.
Notable initiatives:
• Community outreach efforts included 6 presentations at Anaheim High Schools and 5 at Garden Grove High Schools.
The CTA program continues to play a pivotal role in advancing tourism careers by equipping individuals with valuable skills and training. Through its initiatives, the program not only supports professional development for industry participants but also fosters more welcoming and engaging destinations for visitors. By hosting educational classes, networking events, and outreach activities in local schools, the CTA program helps create a vibrant, inclusive environment that enhances both the guest experience and the community’s reputation as a tourism hotspot.
HOSPITALITY CAREER DEVELOPMENT RESULTS
31
High School Presentations
117 Completed the CTA Program
4 Community Presentations
2,100 Students Reached
19 Participated in the Discovery Tour
1,040 Interested in CTA, Internships & Part-time Jobs
50+ Industry & Community Partners Volunteered as Speakers
2025 CALENDAR YEAR
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
DESTINATION VISITATION OVERVIEW
The Business Intelligence team at Visit Anaheim leads the organization’s data strategy, transforming raw information into actionable insights that guide growth, planning, and performance evaluation across Anaheim’s tourism economy. Using advanced analytics, visualization tools, and integrated reporting systems, the team provides a clear view of market conditions, visitor behavior, and hospitality performance indicators.
VISITOR VOLUME
2025
Total Visitation: 26.5M YOY change: +0.9%)
Total Domestic: 24.7M YOY change: +1.2)
Total International: 1.9M (YOY change: -47.2%)
volume recovery In the baseline, visitor volume is expected to remain above 2019 levels throughout the forecast period.
