Before the Major League Baseball All-Star game throngs descended on Seattle, the city’s hotels already led all American cities with an 86.8% occupancy rate. This data covered the period from June 11 – 17.
While business travel and conventions are still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels, industry analysts believe that hotels could reach pre-Covid occupancy levels in 2024 or 2025. The current surge is being driven by recreational travel.
The MLB All Star game is expected to infuse $50 million into the Seattle economy during its July 7-11 festivities. Summer concerts are also pushing hotel occupancy upward, with headliners like George Strait, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Coldplay, and Ed Sheeran coming to Seattle.
Cruise industry tourism is expected to reach an all-time high, with 700,000 people traveling to Alaska on 289 cruise ship sailings. Analysts predict that the cruise industry bring another $900 million to the Seattle area economy.
