As the Charlotte Observer reports:
Mecklenburg County’s average daily hotel rate this year is expected to be $104 – the first time it has crossed $100 a night. It was $91 in 2008 before the recession, and then tumbled to $82.
The occupancy rate is now 72 percent, the highest it’s been since at least 2007.
An industry measurement called RevPar – revenue per available room – is expected to be above $75 for the year. It was less than $58 in 2007.
and:
At a recent board meeting, the CRVA said that its biggest problem is having a large number of hotel room blocks for its sales staff to offer conventions.
CRVA Chief Executive Tom Murray said his sales team has reorganized to focus on bringing in events during off periods in the year, such as keeping the CIAA basketball tournament in late winter.
“We also are focusing on weekend business, like amateur sports and social conventions,” Murray said. “We have had success there. But midweek, we are either pricier than other cities or have less inventory available.”
Kind of hard to make the case for throwing more money at building a bigger Convention Center with those sorts of numbers, though give it enough time, I’m sure the CRVA will come up with a justification.
