Korn says a good turnout on Valentine’s Day in Grand Rapids showed people are ready to stay in hotels again.
GRAND RAPIDS, me. – If you have the travel bug but are unsure during the pandemic, staying could be the answer. And Experience Grand Rapids hopes it will help local hotels too.
“We’re very confident that we can get our local community members to stay overnight and bring in people from out of town,” said Janet Korn, senior vice president, Experience Grand Rapids.
The travel industry has been hard hit by the pandemic, but that may change soon. According to the travel research group Longwoods International80% of American travelers plan to go on vacation in the next six months. That is the highest amount since March last year. Alternatively, only 40% say that COVID affects their travel decision.
Korn says a good turnout on Valentine’s Day in Grand Rapids showed people are ready to stay in hotels again.
“We know that when people have enough reason to get out, they stay overnight,” she says. “That was a good weekend, but we need a lot more good weekends.”
To help you, Experience Grand Rapids is partnering with ten local hotels to offer 25% off the second night of your stay in March and April. Speaking to hotel owners, Korn says that after a year of mass layoffs in the industry, increased business is urgently needed.
“Our local hotels are staffed with people who live in our community,” says Korn. “And the people who are sticking to their jobs would really like to bring some of their team members back.”
She hopes the incentive to stay will keep local businesses going.
“To really help restore some of that life to the hospitality industry,” Korn says.
A full list of participating hotels can be found here Here.
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