CLEVELAND — There are major events that, as a region, we bid on, such as the RNC, NFL Draft and All-Star games. But every once in a while, there are those you are simply gifted by fate. There have been few, if any, in this category that drew more people from more places across the country to locales all across Northeast Ohio than April's total solar eclipse.
Research conducted for Destination Cleveland by Tourism Economics, a division of Oxford Economics, found that 12 events hosted during the April 8 Total Solar Eclipse generated $24.6 million in economic impact across Cuyahoga, Lorain and Lake counties.
Tourism economics determined the financial boost by evaluating visitor spending, including money spent on hotels, meals, retail purchases and transportation, as well as data provided for the following watch parties:
- Total Eclipse Fest (Great Lakes Science Center/NASA Glenn Research Center)
- Lights Out in The Land (Lake Erie Crushers)
- Solar Eclipse Viewing Party (Lorain County Metro Parks)
- Eclipse Day (Cleveland Metroparks)
- Rooftop Eclipse Party (Music Box Supper Club)
- Avon Lake Eclipse Watch Party (City of Avon Lake)
- Solarfest Weekend (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame)
- Total on the Oval (Wade Oval)
- Eclipse & Sips Viewing Party (Fahrenheit restaurant)
- Solar Eclipse Party on the Runways (The Aviator)
- Total Eclipse at Children’s Museum Cleveland (Children’s Museum of Cleveland)
- Total Eclipse of the Park (Crocker Park)
"These were people who came to Cleveland to watch the eclipse, not a local person so it's really focused only on people who came in and stayed overnight as a result of the eclipse being in the Cleveland area," said Destination Cleveland President & CEO David Gilbert.
The eclipse on Monday followed the women's Final Four which wrapped up the day before on Sunday. The tournament generated $32.9 million in direct spending. Gilbert says the numbers were studied separately.
"But I think they fed off of each other very much. I mean we know just anecdotally there were a lot of people who were coming to Women's Final Four that said 'oh with the eclipse I'm going to stay another day.' We even know that there was media here, people like Robin Roberts and others that probably wouldn't have been reporting live from Cleveland but they were already here for Women's Final Four so they made this there destination. So it was actually very fortuitous that we had both back to back."
Direct spending accounts for $15.1 million of the $24.6 million economic impact. Indirect and induced spending related to the events and visitation accounts for the remaining $9.5 million. The Tourism Economics report does not include spending by visitors who stayed with family and friends or spending related to smaller formal events and informal viewing parties, as attendance and spending figures aren’t available.
The Total Solar Eclipse also drove notable increases in hotel occupancy across the three counties. Hotel occupancy in Cuyahoga County averaged 83% over the nights of April 7 and 8, 2024, representing an 84% increase compared to the same days of the week in April 2023 (April 9 and 10).
Similar gains were seen in Lake County (78% increase in occupancy over the same days of the week in 2023) and Lorain County (82% increase over the same days of the week in 2023)
