Lollapalooza expected to deliver big weekend for Chicago hotels, even as business travel lags
. But hoteliers, who are still recovering from the COVID-19 crisis, say Lollapalooza may be the most important event.“The summer really has become the make-it or break-it time for Chicago hotels, but Lolla is a blowout, it’s always a blowout,” said Maverick Hotels and Restaurants CEO Robert Habeeb, the proprietor of the 223-room Sable at Navy Pier. “And the Lolla crowds are big spenders.”
In the first half of 2023, total hotel room demand for Chicago was 4.98 million room nights, 18% more than 2022 and almost 90% of the demand seen over the same period in 2019, said Lynn Osmond, president and CEO of Choose Chicago, the city’s official tourism agency. Swift kicked off June with three sold-out shows. Thousands of Swifties descended on downtown hotels, and business didn’t slow down. Hotel room demand for the month hit 1.11 million, driving the overall occupancy rate up to 80.4%, the highest level since the pandemic began, according to Choose Chicago.
Final July occupancy and revenue numbers aren’t in yet, but hotel operators say events such as NASCAR, held on the lakefront over the July 4 weekend, should result in another strong month. Habeeb said the NASCAR race may have discouraged some potential visitors who typically travel to Chicago for the Fourth, so it might work better on a slower weekend, especially since, unlike the big-spending Swifties and Lollapalooza attendees, racegoers were more likely to hunt for bargains outside downtown.
Cynthia McCafferty, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, the municipal corporation that owns McCormick Place, said many 2023 events, including the American Library Association’s six-day conference in June, are attracting far bigger crowds than last year, and others, such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology, which held its annual meeting the first week of June, are breaking their attendance records from 2019.
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