Visits to San Antonio Missions fell two years in a row
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The number of visits to the San Antonio Missions fell for the second consecutive year in 2023, National Park Service data shows.
Why it matters: Fewer visitors mean less foot traffic to surrounding businesses and fewer tourism dollars spent in the city overall.
The big picture: As the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Texas, the five Missions — which include the Alamo downtown and the larger Mission San Jose on the South Side — are often touted as some of the main tourist draws for San Antonio.
By the numbers: There were about 1.18 million visits to the San Antonio Missions in 2023, the data shows — down from the 1.34 million visits in 2021 when the Missions rebounded from an early COVID-era drop.
- In 2019, visits stood at about 1.28 million.
Zoom out: Across the country, visits to NPS sites were up 4% in 2023 from 2022.
- Visits to Big Bend National Park in West Texas also fell for the second consecutive year but remained above pre-COVID levels.