Cheer up! Bank of America Stadium in downtown Charlotte is the buzz of Sky Hotels and other local tourism executives after hosting eight major concerts over a one-year period beginning in September 2021. The results: Uptown hotel sales increased 40 percent on those nights, while rates rose 26 percent compared to the six-month average.
Such increases are even more impressive given the growth in recreational activities in Charlotte over the past several years. Here, leisure travel hotel revenue is forecast to grow 28.8% this year over 2019, the most recent full non-pandemic year, according to industry analyst Calibri Labs. That’s more than double the 14 percent entertainment gain expected nationwide by the end of 2022.
Concerts and anything that promotes leisure travel have become even more important to Charlotte and other cities because corporate travel has yet to fully recover. Corporate travel dominated the hospitality business here for decades, but that has changed.
“Places are our beaches and places are our mountains,” said Mohammad Jenatian, CEO of the Greater Charlotte Hospitality and Tourism Alliance. CBJPointing out the importance of NFL stadiums and NBA arenas to attract travelers. “Every concert at Bank of America Stadium was a major driver for our hotels.”
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(See below: Police: 21-year-old shot at Livingstone College concert)
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