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Springfield, MO
The Queen City hotel industry bounced back in 2021 after a rough 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to data released late last week by the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau Inc.
Statistics were up across the board in 2021, with occupancy and revenue impacted.
During 2021, the city's hotel occupancy rate hit 64.7%, a jump from 45.5% in 2020, according to the CVB. The average daily rate for hotel rooms grew 18.8% to $88.40, and revenue per available room was up nearly 70% to $57.21.
“We set records in the number of occupied rooms, average daily rate and room sales,” CVB President and CEO Tracy Kimberlin said via email.
In 2020, hotel stats were heavily impacted by the pandemic. Kimberlin that year said the local hotel industry hit "rock bottom" during the first full week of April, just after the pandemic took hold and stay-at-home orders went into effect.
For Springfield Business Journal's 2022 Economic Outlook publication, Kimberlin said room demand hit a record in 2021, with more than 1.4 million occupied rooms.
"Leisure travel has come back with a vengeance," he told SBJ.
DoubleTree by Hilton’s Joe Wadkins, board chair of the CVB, said in the Outlook interview that the hotel he helps manage saw an uptick in demand, especially during the second half of the year. Both tourism officials expect a business travel rebound in 2022.
Missouri State University’s science building, built in 1971 and formerly called Temple Hall, is being reconstructed and updated.