Forty years ago, tourism was considered one of San Luis Obispo County’s most promising industries. Today, it’s a multi-billion-dollar economic force.
In 1986, tourism supported 6,500 local jobs and contributed $260 million to the area economy, according to a report from Berkeley-based Applied Development Economics cited in one of New Times’ first issues.
At the time, tourism was largely centered on the coast.
“We were known as a beach destination,” Visit SLO CAL President and CEO Cathy Cartier told New Times.
Visitors came from the Central Valley or traveled up from Los Angeles or down from San Francisco to visit places like Pismo Beach, Cayucos, and Cambria.
Second District Supervisor Bruce Gibson remembers how dependent those coastal communities were on visitors traveling Highway 1.
“In the ’80s and the ’90s, when Highway 1 would shut down, it would be a real disaster on the North Coast,” Gibson said.
In 2025, a record 7.7 million visitors came to SLO County, generating $2.37 billion in direct travel spending and supporting 24,580 jobs, according to Visit SLO CAL. Tourism now accounts for 9.7 percent of countywide GDP.
Over those four decades, the industry grew beyond the coast as wine country, outdoor recreation, food, lodging, and new attractions gave visitors more reasons to explore the county.
“What’s been interesting is to just watch what’s happened in the region and how all of this experiential travel is big now,” Cartier said.
Wine played a major role in that change.
While visitors could go wine tasting in the 1980s, Cartier said the growth of the industry in Paso Robles and South County transformed wine into a larger tourism experience.
Wineries added live music and other activities. Boutique and experience-driven hotels expanded the county’s lodging options, while kayaking, whale watching, hiking, biking, and fine dining gave visitors more ways to build a trip around SLO County.
Attractions like Sensorio in Paso Robles added something new altogether. Cartier said its 2019 light installation was originally supposed to be temporary but “has ended up growing and growing and growing.”
Gibson said Highway 1 closures still hurt North Coast businesses, but they don’t have the same impact they once did because travelers are now more likely to visit specific communities.
‘We have folks with a lot more disposable income, and they’re looking for a place like SLO County, which is not as developed as the places they live in the big metropolitan areas.’
—Bruce Gibson, 2nd District SLO County supervisor
“Folks will drive around and seek out places like Cayucos and Cambria, and they’ll drive around and head up to Hearst Castle,” he said.
As the reasons to visit expanded, so did the system built to promote SLO County.
The San Luis Obispo County Visitors and Conference Bureau formed in 1990. In 2009, the county established a tourism business improvement district funded through a 2 percent assessment on lodging businesses in much of the unincorporated coastal area.
In 2015, the Board of Supervisors approved a countywide tourism marketing district funded through a lodging assessment, and the former visitors bureau evolved into Visit SLO CAL.
Cartier said the countywide approach came as destinations across California were investing more in tourism. Monterey and Santa Barbara were promoting themselves, while Napa and Sonoma had already established strong reputations around wine.
“It was an opportunity for San Luis Obispo County to kind of get more into that game,” she said.
Visit SLO CAL operates the county Film Commission and works with the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport on air service development. Cartier said six nonstop routes have been added, making it easier for visitors to reach the county.
Gibson said organized tourism promotion has played a role in the industry’s growth, but it isn’t the only reason people come.
“We have folks with a lot more disposable income and they’re looking for a place like SLO County, which is not as developed as the places they live in the big metropolitan areas,” he said.
He described agriculture and tourism as the “twin pillars” of SLO County’s economy.
In 1986, agriculture contributed the county’s largest share of revenue, while tourism was the industry expected to grow. Forty years later, the two increasingly overlap.
Wine country turned agricultural areas into destinations, while food and the county’s rural landscapes became part of what visitors come to experience.
“The folks that are actively promoting have been a big part of it,” Gibson said, “and I think the natural inclination of folks to seek out a beautiful place where we have such incredible landscapes is another.”
After decades of growth, Visit SLO CAL is now looking at how to bring visitors into more parts of the county and increase tourism during slower times of the week.
Cartier said that could mean introducing hikers to less crowded trails or encouraging visitors to stay in communities they may not have considered before.
“They may go for a hike and then they end up eating there,” she said. “They may end up shopping there. They may be introduced to a community they didn’t know about and then next time book their overnight stay there.”
It can also mean bringing people in when tourism businesses have more room for them.
“Sometimes we don’t need more people on a weekend,” Cartier said, “but we sure could use some people Monday through Thursday.”
As Gibson put it, SLO County has spent decades promoting itself as a place to visit.
“And, you know, it’s obviously paid off,” he said. ∆
Reach Staff Writer Chloë Hodge at chodge@newtimesslo.com.
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This article appears in 40th anniversary edition.
