Saint Paul attracts (annually)

• 13.8 million visitors
• 11.4 million leisure travelers
• 1.7 million business travelers
• 690,000 international travelers

Downtown Visitor Profile
The downtown St. Paul visitor:

• Has an average age of 43.2 years
  
• Has an Estimated Median Income of $71,000
• 53% are female, 47% are male.
• The average travel party size is 2.7 people
• 11% of visitors are of racial or ethnic minority
• 32% of St. Paul visitors travel with children

Why they come here:

• 77% of St. Paul visitors spend the night, with an average length of overnight stay of 3.7 nights
• 58% for vacation or short pleasure trip
• 16% for personal reasons
• 13% for a convention or conference
• 17% for business or work

Leisure Traveler Profile

• 40% of leisure travelers to downtown Saint Paul are residents of Minnesota
• Top non-resident travelers visit from: Wisconsin 8%, Iowa 3%, Illinois 3%, California 2%, North Dakota 2%, and Texas 2%.

Festival/Event Visitor Profile

• Over 90% of visitors to St. Paul festivals and events attend with family and/or friends that include 2-3 adults.
  - Nearly half are adult groups only
  - Over 30% of groups include children 12 and under
  - Approximately 15% of groups include adolescents 13 - 17
  
• More than 40% of visitors will visit more than one attraction within downtown St. Paul (based on attraction proximity to event).
  
• Visitors spend an average of $65.00 on food, souvenirs, and parking.
  
• Visitors spend an estimated 3 hours per visit in Saint Paul.
  
• Over 90% of festival/event visitors are repeat visitors.

Downtown Hotel Profile

• Saint Paul is home to 1,596 hotel rooms, 81% are located in downtown St. Paul, and generated 79% of the 2008 lodging tax revenue for the City of Saint Paul.
  
• From July 2007 to July 2008, the Average Daily Rate of downtown Saint Paul hotel rooms was $96.62, a 6.6% increase from the previous year.
  
• From July 2007 to July 2008, the Occupancy Rate of downtown Saint Paul hotels was 69.7%, a 5% decrease from the previous year.
  
• There were 1,057,934 St. Paul hotel room guests in 2008.

St. Paul Convention Activity

• Saint Paul hosted the 2008 Republican National Convention, generating an estimated $150 million in economic impact. The RNC brought 45,000 visitors, including 15,000 media and 8 billion media impressions – equivalent to a $330 million ad campaign.
• In 2008, nearly 575,000 people attended conventions in Saint Paul excluding the RNC, with an estimated economic impact of $72.9 million.
• Convention bookings through 2010 are estimated to bring an additional 1.14 million visitors to downtown Saint Paul and generate more than $160 million in economic impact.

Source: Saint Paul Convention & Visitors Authority (CVA)