December 2021 Visitor Stats

All Arrivals

Despite ongoing impacts from COVID-19 on travel, December visitation increased significantly year-over-year, resulting in an overall increase by 294% or 36,335 visitors over the same month last year. 

Previous December tracking (below) offers a comparison without COVID-19 impacts.  December 2021’s total of 48,694 fell short of December 2019’s pre COVID-19 total arrivals of 56,595.

visitor dec 2021

 

passenger counts dec 21

December’s total in-bound passenger count was above the three-year average of 39,216 and was on par with the five and ten-year averages of 48,396 and 48,140 respectively. 

all arrivals dec 21


Arrivals by Sea

Passengers arriving by sea, including private boaters, totaled 47,018 for the month of December, up by 321.6% from last year.

Rolling compare dec 21
rolling compare dec 21

  • December Cross Channel Passenger counts were up year-over-year by 207.5% or an increase of 20,505 people
  • 2014 had the highest volume for the month @ 39,960 passengers
  • 2020 had the lowest volume for the month @ 9,883
  • 2009 had the lowest volume for the month, pre-COVID-19 @ 17,593
  • December Cross Channel Passenger counts were above the three, five and ten-year averages by 32.8%, 10.6% and 4.7% respectively
  • Cross Channel Passengers made up 62.4% of total monthly arrivals

 

cross channel dec 21

  • Cruise passenger counts totaled 15,794
  • 2005 had the highest Cruise Passenger volume for the month @ 25,612
  • 2020 had the lowest Cruise Passenger volume for the month @ 0.  Pre-COVID-19 low was 2008 @ 4,662
  • December Cruise Passenger counts were above the three-year average by 16.6% but below the five and ten-year averages by 11.2% and 2.4% respectively
  • Cruise Passengers made up 32.4% of total monthly arrivals
  • The number of Cruise Ships calling on Avalon was 9
  • 2016 had the greatest number of ships @ 11
  • 2020 had the lowest number of ships @ 0, pre-COVID-19 2018 had the lowest number @ 10

 

cruise dec 21

  • Private Boater Passenger counts were down year-over-year @ 836 vs. 1,268 in 2020
  • 2017 had the highest passenger volume for the month @ 2,216
  • 2015 had the lowest passenger volume month @ 864
  • December Private Boater Passenger counts were below the three, five and ten-year averages by 18.6%, 37.2% and 35.0% respectively
  • December’s number of Vessels Anchored was up @ 80 vs. 66 last year
  • 2018 had the highest number of Vessels Anchored @ 107
  • 2016 had the lowest number of Vessels Anchored @ 5
  • December 2021 was below the average number of Vessels Anchored for three, five and ten-year averages by 15.4%, 2.6% and 34.9% respectively
  • December’s number of Vessels on Moorings was down @ 209 vs. 317 last year
  • 2011 had the highest number of Vessels on Moorings @ 522
  • 2013 had the lowest number of Vessels on Moorings @ 11
  • December 2021 was below the three, five and ten-year averages for Vessels on Moorings by 18.6%, 37.2% and 23.0% respectively
  • Private Boaters Made up 1.7% of total monthly arrivals

private boat dec 21

 

 Arrivals by Air

Combined in-bound air passenger counts for December totaled 1,693, up from 1,219 in 2020.Rolling comparison

  • Private Aircraft Passengers (Airport in the Sky) was up @ 1,080 from 906 last year
  • 2019 had the highest volume of Private Aircraft Passengers for the month @ 1,782
  • 20018 had the lowest volume of Private Aircraft Passengers for the month @ 447
  • December counts for Private Aircraft Passengers was below the three and five-year averages by 14.0%, 4.0% respectively, but above the 10-year average by 20.8%
  • December Private Aircraft Passengers made up 2.2% of total monthly arrivals
  • Helicopter Passenger counts were up 97.4% year-over-year @ 596 vs. 302 
  • 2016 had the highest volume for the month @ 998
  • 2011 had the lowest volume for the month @ 459
  • December counts for Helicopter Passengers was above the three-year average by 17.1% but below the five and ten-year averages of by 11.8% and 21.2% respectively
  • December counts for Helicopter Passengers made up 1.2% of total monthly arrivals

private aircraft dec 21

heli dec 21

Lodging

Hotel and Short-Term Rental Occupancy from Smith Travel and AIRDNA

  • Hotel Occupancy for December 2021 was 57.5%, up from 31.4% in 2020
  • December 2021 Hotel Occupancy exceeded Monterey, but was below Palm Springs, San Diego, Huntington Beach, Anaheim, San Francisco and Santa Barbra in our competitive set
  • Hotel Average Daily Rate was $173.38, up from $117.14 in 2020
  • Hotel Revenue Per Available Room was $99.74, up from $36.74 in 2020
  • Short-Term Rental Occupancy for December was 41%, up from 28% in 2020
  • December 2021 Short-Term Rental Occupancy exceeded no destinations in our competitive set being below Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Monterey, Anaheim, San Francisco and Santa Monica
  • Short-Term Rental Average Daily Rate was $452.00, up from $395 in 2020
  • Short-Term Rental Revenue Per Available Room was $156.00, up from $112.00 in 2020

Visitor Services

December Visitor Services were up year-over-year.

Catalina Island Visitor Center

vic dec 21

  • Number of Phone Calls for the month was up year-over-year by 166.5% @ 669 vs. 251
  • 2007 had the highest volume for the month @ 1,044 calls
  • 2020 had the lowest volume for the month @ 251 calls.  Pre-COVID-19 lowest call volume was 2015 @ 406
  • December call counts were above the three-year average of 642 and the ten-year average of 626, but below the five-year average of 703
  • Number of Walk-Ins for the month was up year-over-year @ 1,603 vs. 271   
  • 2016 had the highest volume of Walk-ins for the month @ 2,366 guests
  • 2020 had the lowest volume of Walk-ins for the month @ 271 guests.  Pre COVID-19 lowest volume of guests was 2018 @ 1,846
  • December Walk-In counts were above the three, five and ten-year average of 1,250, 1,506 and 990 respectively


vic calls

vic walk ins

LoveCatalina.com

all visits dec 21

  • December LoveCatalina.com website users were up year-over-year by 71.6% @ 56,333 vs. 32,820 in 2020
  • Website users were down 1.9% from the three-year average
  • Website users are down in-part due to suspension of a pay-per click campaign that is now reallocated to a co-op website instead
  • Book Direct lodging searches were up year-over-year by 59.1% @, 6,320 vs. 3,972 in 2020 
  • Lodging searches were down 26.8% from three-year average
  • Note changes to Book Direct on member links has resulted in shifting more traffic to referrals vs. searches
  • Book Direct referrals were up by 83.9% @ 5,004 vs.2,721 in 2020
  • Referrals were down 17.9% from the three-year average

Visitor Guides & Newsletters

 visitor guides

  • Note above numbers do not include racks and California Welcome Center/local Visitor Center distributions
  • Printed Visitor Guide orders @ LoveCatalina.com @ 21, down from 217 or 90.3% from last year
  • No 2021 Guide was printed
  • Online Guide downloads were up by 400% @ 230 vs.46 in 2020
  • New E-blast subscribers in December were up year-over-year @ 60 vs. 35 in 2020

newsletter sign ups

Social Media cumulative totals by platform as of December below.

social media dec 21

Weather

Data for December highs, lows and precipitation going back to 2012 is displayed below. Multi-year rain days data is also displayed by year and month.  Measures are taken at Avalon Harbor.

weather dec 21


weather

weather

weather july 2021

 

rainy days dec 21

January-December 2021 Year-End Reporting

2021 Total Arrivals

Total year-end arrivals are up from last year by 55%.  Keep in mind that current and multi-year figures include impacts of COVID-19 from present back to March 2020.

all arrivals 2021

  • Total Arrivals year-to-date was up @ 813,051 vs. 503,210 last year or a difference of 309,841 visitors
  • Total Arrivals year-to-date exceeded the three-year average of 779,146 by 4.4%
  • Total Arrivals year-to-date were below the five and ten-year averages of 898,323 and 931,152 respectively
  • All arrival sectors are up year-to-date with the exception of Cruise

Historical

COVID-19 and pre-Covid-19 comparison data is illustrated below

YTD dec 21

  • 2017 had the highest total visitation @ 1,097,500
  • 2020 had the lowest total visitation @ 503,210
  • 2012 had the lowest pre COVID-19 visitation @ 818,133
  • All arrival sectors are up 2021 year-end compared to 2019 with the exception of Cruise

To view historical data for total arrivals by sector, year and month in a spreadsheet form click here. PDF File.  

2021 Lodging

Hotel and Short-Term Rental Occupancy from Smith Travel and AIRDNA

  • Hotel Occupancy for 2021 averaged 65.1%, up from 52.1% in 2020
  • 2021 Hotel Occupancy exceeded Santa Barbara, but was below Palm Springs, Newport Beach, San Diego, Huntington Beach, Anaheim, San Francisco, Monterey and Santa Monica in our competitive set
  • 2121 Hotel Average Daily Rate was $212.43, up from $166.10 in 2020
  • Hotel Revenue Per Available Room in 2021 was $138.38 up from $86.59 in 2020
  • 2021 Short-Term Rental Occupancy averaged 59%, up from 41% in 2020
  • 2021 Short-Term Rental Occupancy exceeded no destinations in our competitive set, but tied with Palm Springs
  • Short-Term Rental Average Daily Rate for 2021 was $543.00, up from $506.00 in 2020
  • Short-Term Rental Revenue Per Available Room in 2021 was $320.00, up from $206.00 in 2020

2021 Catalina Island Visitor Center

vic 2021

  • Number of Phone Calls for the Year was up by 23.8% @ 8,064 vs. 6,514
  • 2008 had the highest volume @ 20,077 calls
  • 2013 had the lowest volume @ 3,426 calls. 
  • 2021 call counts were below the three-year average of 8,659
  • Number of Walk-Ins for the year was up by 282.3% @ 24,642 vs. 6,445.  In 2020 the center was closed many days due to COVID-19 restrictions and was further impacted by the lack of Cruise visitors
  • 2018 had the highest volume of Walk-ins @ 49,741 guests
  • 2020 had the lowest volume of Walk-ins @ 6,445 guests. 
  • 2021 Walk-In counts were above the three-year average of 20,455

2021 LoveCatalina.com

All visits

 

  • 2021 LoveCatalina.com website users were up year-over-year by 24.2% @ 1,046,220 vs. 842,140 in 2020
  • Through year-end Book Direct lodging searches were up by 39.0% @, 197,184 vs. 141,909 in 2020 
  • 2021 Book Direct referrals were up by 66.1% @ 186,661 vs. 112,382 in 2020

2021 Visitor Guides & Newsletters

  • Printed Visitor Guide orders @ LoveCatalina.com @ 1,790 was down from 7,503 from last year.  This does not include rack or trade show distributions
  • No 2021 Guide was printed
  • Digital Guide downloads were up @ 5,140 vs.1,848 in 2020
  • New E-blast subscribers January-December was up @ 1,555 vs. 622 in 2020

Explore the Island

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Catalina Flyer from Newport

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Hop onboard the Catalina Flyer for daily ferry service from Newport Beach to Avalon, Catalina Island in just over 1 hour.