Pittsburgh tourism nearly recovered from pre-pandemic levels, industry group says

By this time next year, Visit Pittsburgh CEO Jerad Bachar believes people won’t be using the word recovery when talking about Pittsburgh’s tourism industry.

“2023 was our first full year with a kind of normalized travel activity after the pandemic,” Bachar said. “But 2024, we definitely want to stop using the word recovery.”

At Visit Pittsburgh’s annual meeting Wednesday, Bachar said Pittsburgh’s tourism industry has recovered about 94% of its economic impact levels compared to 2019, before the pandemic upended the industry.

He said he expects tourism will fully recover and expand beyond pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year.

Bachar said visitors and spending tied to sporting events and leisure have already fully recovered and are each above pre-pandemic levels. Business tourism, which includes for trade shows, is still lagging behind.

Visit Pittsburgh, the region’s top tourism group, announced the tourism’s economic impact for the region exceeded $6.4 billion in 2023. In 2022, that number was about $5.9 billion.

Compared to 2022, the local tourism industry grew across the board, including a 6.1% increase in visitor spending and 5.4% increase in state and local taxes generated, according to the group’s annual report.

Bachar acknowledged the pandemic hit the tourism industry particularly hard initially. He said he is pleased with the region’s recovery.

Pittsburgh saw 20.4 million trips in 2023 and an impressive 7% increase in overnight trips, Bachar said.

Last year saw a slew of major events attracting people to the Steel City, most notably among them was two Taylor Swift concerts at Acrisure Stadium. That week saw 95% of the region’s hotel rooms occupied.

Bachar said Pittsburgh is hoping to continue that momentum this year — and is looking for an assist from state and local officials.

Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato spoke at the Visit Pittsburgh meeting held at Stage AE in Pittsburgh’s North Shore.

She said she also is confident the region will eclipse pre-pandemic tourism activity next year, noting airline passenger levels at Pittsburgh International Airport recently reached that milestone.

“In February for the first time in five years, passenger traffic has exceeded pre-pandemic levels,” she said.

Gov. Josh Shapiro also spoke to the crowd of more than 200 stakeholders, tourism industry professionals and local leaders.

He said his administration is proposing a $15 million increase in state spending to boost the state’s tourism industry as part of his budget proposal.

“I have been to Pittsburgh more than anywhere to talk about economic development. Pittsburgh plays a role in our competitiveness,” Shapiro said. “As part of our economic development strategy, we are going to be very focused on tourism.”

Shapiro reiterated his support for Pittsburgh hosting an NFL Draft in 2026 or 2027. He said he has spoken to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about why Pittsburgh is the best city to host an NFL draft.

“I have been driving him crazy,” Shapiro said.

Bachar said bringing an NFL Draft to Pittsburgh would attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to the region. He noted Pittsburgh is bidding to host a draft after next year, but said getting the draft would attract other investment and spending that is likely to hit in 2025.

“It would be huge to get the draft,” said Bachar, who added it would be integral to pushing tourism in the region over pre-pandemic levels.