These US Cities Benefited Most From Solar Eclipse Tourism
Data on road congestion, foot traffic and credit card spending give an early look at where eclipse tourists offered the greatest economic boost.
A sign outside of a store selling souvenirs ahead of the total solar eclipse in Bloomington, Indiana, on Sunday, April 7, 2024.
Photographer: Chet Strange/BloombergMonday’s solar eclipse sold out hotels and Airbnbs all along the path of totality as tourists flocked to see the celestial phenomenon. But early data on spending, foot traffic and road congestion patterns suggest that not all destinations benefited equally.
Syracuse, in upstate New York, saw a 28% year-over-year increase in spending at hotels and restaurants for the period from last Friday through Monday, double the US average change of 13.7%. That’s according to SpendTrend data from Fiserv, which captures all card-based transactions at millions of merchant locations nationwide.