Barrie sees record-setting tourism boom with $113M in visitor spending

Tourism in Barrie has been bustling, with the local economy raking in nearly $113 million last year.

Barrie’s tourism industry had a record-breaking year in 2024, bringing in nearly $113 million from overnight visitors, a massive leap that officials say is largely thanks to the city’s sporting events and key festivals.

According to the latest report from Barrie Tourism, more than 631,000 hotel guests visited the city through last year, and millions were reached through digital marketing efforts.

“It was a $51 million increase from 2023,“ noted Kathleen Trainor, Tourism Barrie’s executive director. ”We tracked 49 sporting events and we were able to track all the festival events because we have some new software that allows us to do some of that data, so it was a combination of more people coming, occupancies up, hotel room costs, revenues are up.”

The numbers reveal that of the total economic activity generated, roughly $70 million came from sports-related tourism alone, including tournaments, competitions, and the continued draw of the Barrie Colts, which represented a $43 million share of the total.

Signature events, like Kempenfest and the Barrie Air Show, brought in $31 million combined.