Seattle is showing that it is ready for the convention crowds just like old times. During the pandemic, hotels lost guests because travel trickled to a standstill. Hotel occupancy dropped down to single digits. Conventions are a big source of revenue bringing big businesses to hotels, restaurants, and other attractions that make money from convention crowds.
Convention visitors coming to town mean people spending money and increasing Seattle’s overall economics. Industry experts say that Seattle hotels are usually 75 percent full. Conventions are making Seattle their place to do business. Visit Seattle said there are big conventions coming. The Washington State Convention Center will hold 4 more major events this month, including a big educators convention.
There are 24 more national conventions in Seattle for the rest of the year. This means that Seattle’s economy is making a strong recovery this thanks to the convention season. Two years is a long time to go without such influx of income for the city.
A recent convention came to town bringing over seven thousand to Seattle for close a week. That group generated an economic impact of about $24.5 million for the Seattle region. Fourteen local hotels were patronized. Visit Seattle says that amounted to nearly 29,000 contracted room nights.
That convention helped to create an almost 79 percent occupancy for hotels, not to mention the restaurants and other businesses that benefited. Also, the Port of Seattle welcomed its first cruise ship –the Norwegian Bliss. It sets sail to Alaska later this month. The only issue businesses are having is staffing. However, the way it looks now, Seattle’s economy is coming back
