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Chicago’s Hotel Sector Lags U.S. in Recovery
Even as Chicago hotel owners last year got a desperately needed jolt of new business after 2020 devastated their bottom lines, the sector’s local recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic still lags the rest of the country, Crain’s Chicago Business reported.
STR research shows downtown hotels finished 2021 with an average occupancy rate of 43%, Although that’s up dramatically from the 27% average in 2020, it’s still well below the 74% average in 2019. Nationally, the average occupancy was nearly 58%, compared with 66% pre-pandemic.
The disparity highlights the uneven comeback for the hotel sector almost two years into a public health crisis that initially flattened demand. While some markets that rely more heavily on leisure tourism enjoyed a surge of visitors last year, Chicago fit the profile of the type of market that has struggled the most: urban, dense and dependent on business travel, reported Crain’s.
- ◦Economy
