Visitor Expenditures

Using industry-standard visitor spending data, we are able to calculate per-day visitor expenditure estimates and corresponding visitor spending estimates for a typical tourist in Los Angeles County. Expenditures by visitors
totaled $7.6 million during academic year 2013/2014. According to CSUN, the event that results in the most significant amount of visitor spending is the University Commencement. The bulk of visitor spending in the latest academic year went to food and beverage ($3.3 million), and comprised 43.4% of all spending by visitors. Hotel and retail spending each comprised 20% of total visitor spending. These expenditures are beneficial to the local economy and provide an important stimulus for local businesses that generate a portion of their quarterly sales during graduation season. The direct spending impacts lead to multiple rounds of additional spending, providing further stimulus to the local economy.