MINNEAPOLIS — Hotels in Minneapolis are recovering after the pandemic, seeing more people buying hotel rooms this summer than last.
Meet Minneapolis said Wednesday that there was an 8% increase in hotel rooms sold between Memorial Day and Labor Day this year compared to last.
This August also saw the highest hotel occupancy rate and number of rooms sold since 2019.
"This past summer was a standout season for Minneapolis,” said Meet Minneapolis President and CEO Melvin Tennant in a press release. “Our city’s unique blend of cultural and outdoor attractions, and major events and conventions drew visitors from all over, resulting in strong hotel demand and increased activity for our tourism and hospitality workers.”
Meet Minneapolis said in a press release the best day of the summer was August 27, when the occupancy rate of hotels was at 97.5%. That weekend there was a Zach Bryan concert, the Lynx played Indiana and the Twins played St. Louis.
Business travel has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels, Meet Minneapolis said, adding there is a "lag in large citywide convention bookings for the coming year."
"While we have made significant strides in bringing visitors to Minneapolis, one key focus for our organization is to revive the meetings and events industry to levels that will support the hotel room growth we have seen over the last five years,” Tennant said in the press release. “We are actively working with our public and private sector partners to enhance our product marketability in order to remain competitive with destinations which are making significant investments into infrastructure and experiences to support their convention sales efforts.
