EVERETT — Phoenix likes it here. Tourists from Phoenix spent more time visiting Snohomish County this year than visitors from other cities — 93 hours on average.
San Francisco visitors spent an average of 74 hours, while folks from Boise stayed for 70 hours, followed by visitors from Los Angeles and Denver, who lingered an average of 63 hours, according to a recent study that tracked visitors to Snohomish County during this year’s offseason.
However, out-of-state visitors represented just 5% of the county’s visitors. The remainder were Washington residents. Most in-state visits were from the Seattle-Tacoma area.
The majority of offseason visitors were from the Seattle-Tacoma area, who on average spent spent nine hours here.
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The most new faces showed up on Saturdays, with an influx of travelers from Eastern Washington, including Spokane, Wenatchee, Yakima and the Tri-Cities of Pasco, Richland and Kennewick.
Mondays drew the most visitors from the I-5 corridor that stretches from Bellingham to Olympia.
From September 2018 through March 2019, day-trippers accounted for 65% of visits; 35% stayed at least one night.
Hotels and lodging
There are currently more than 6,700 hotel rooms in Snohomish County.
In the past three years, the county has added 977 hotel rooms, including 413 rooms at three hotels expected to open this year. (Compare that number to the 2,000 hotel rooms downtown Seattle added last year.)
New hotels expected to open this year:
■ Hotel Indigo, Everett: 144 rooms.
■ Hilton Garden Inn, Lynnwood: 155 rooms
■ La Quinta Inn, Marysville: 114 rooms
In 2018, Delta Hotel by Marriott in Everett opened with 232 rooms. It’s the former Holiday Inn, which was closed for a year of renovation.
In 2017, two hotels opened in Everett: the Red Lion with 44 rooms and the Woodspring Suites with 122 rooms.
Top tourist attractions:
■ The Boeing Tour at the Future of Flight Aviation Center Paine Field in Mukilteo.
■ Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum; Historic Flight Foundation; and Museum of Flight Restoration Center and Reserve Collection, Paine Field in Everett and Mukilteo.
■ Tulalip Resort Casino in Tulalip.
■ The Mountain Loop Highway in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
■ Hibulb Cultural Center in Tulalip.
■ Puget Sound Express whale-watching tours in Edmonds.
■ Seattle Premium Outlets in Tulalip.
■ Jetty Island in Everett.
■ Mukilteo Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo.
Experiences:
■ Hiking. You can find places to hike, bike and walk at SeattleNorthCounty.com.
■ River rafting.
■ Skydiving and hot-air ballooning at Harvey Field in Snohomish.
Sources: Arrivalist, Dean Runyon Associates, Snohomish County Tourism Bureau, The Daily Herald
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