The coronavirus pandemic hit Owensboro from March 13 through Friday March 13.
“One hotel reported that it lost over $ 50,000 on future reservations,” said Mark Calitri, president of Owensboro-Daviess County’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, days later. “That’s in a day! This kind of news tells me that April results could be worse. “
And so were many of the months to come.
Tournaments and congresses have started to cancel the events planned for 2020.
Festivals, concerts and even dinners have been canceled.
And by the end of the year, local hotels had had their worst year ever.
Smith Travel Research’s STAR trend analysis for Owensboro found that Owensboro hotel occupancy fell from 50.5% in 2019 to 36.1% the year later.
The previous low in occupancy was 39% in 2003, when the country’s travel industry was struggling after September 11th.
The average daily room rate here fell from $ 93.57 per day to $ 78.62 in 2020.
Sales declined by $ 10 millionTotal hotel revenue for the city’s hotels declined $ 10 million, from $ 24.5 million in 2010 to $ 14.5 million last year.
Last week, Calitri said, “Over the past 11 months, these huge drops in hotel occupancy and room rates have created significant financial difficulties for Owensboro Hotels and our tourism partners. There is still a lot to do for the rest of the year. “
But he said, “The good news is that Owensboro is causing a lot of buzz and excitement, and we have an incredibly positive brand image.”
Calitri said, “The challenge that Visit Owensboro is directly facing is that we must continue to focus on finding revenue generating opportunities. It’s no secret that Owensboro is an event city. That means we need more sporting events, conventions, meetings and trade fairs. “
He said, “We look forward to new events across town like Owensboro Hydrofair and the Great Race. A combination of these events will have a significant impact on our community and the future looks bright. “
The Great Race, a cross-country race involving 120 classic cars, is slated to stop overnight in Owensboro on June 23rd.
At the CVB board meeting earlier this month, Calitri said: “On a scale from 0 to 10, 2019 was a 9. Now we are roughly a 4. By July we expect a 6. By autumn a 7 or an 8.”
But he said any evidence suggests that “we will not fully recover this year”.
Claude Bacon, CVB vice chairman of the board and vice president of sales, e-commerce and administration at LinGate Hospitality in Owensboro, said, “We continue to see and hear optimism. But those feelings need to turn into a business. “
LinGate operates the Holiday Inn and Courtyard Suites by Marriott in Owensboro.
Curt Baker, general manager of the TownePlace Suites hotel in Gateway Commons and CVB board member, said, “It will be three years before we are back where we were. We see small bumps instead of a straight recovery. “
Owensboro is not alone in losing tourism dollars.
Smith Travel Research – STR – reported that U.S. hotel profitability fell 84.6% in 2020.
It said: “The full recovery in demand remains on track for 2023.”
The US Travel Association says, “Travel expenses were only $ 679 billion in 2020, an unprecedented 42% annual decrease – nearly $ 500 billion – from 2019”.
That report said, “Hotel occupancy averaged just 44% – 33% lower than 2019 – and revenue per available room was only $ 45 – 48% lower than 2019 – all-time lows.”
All hotels have lost revenueThe Kentucky Travel Industry Association recently reported, “In the first six months of 2020, 100% of the tourism industry reported lost sales, none recorded less than 10% decrease in sales, and 35% lost between 10% and 40% of their sales. 65% lost more than 40% and 27% more than 60% of their sales. “
According to the report, 49% of hotels have shed full-time jobs and 24% have lost from 80% to 100% of their part-time workers. “
The CVB saw a glimmer of hope last month when the Crown Cheer and Dance Championships moved from Evansville to the convention center.
The event organizers have since announced plans to return to Owensboro in January and add another event in March 2022.
But the Kentucky United Methodist Church recently canceled plans for its June 6-10 convention here.
It would have brought more than 1,400 people downtown.
But Calitri said the meeting was still booked for 2022 and 2023.
Jared Bratcher, the CVB’s director of sports marketing, said there should be more sports tournaments this year than ever before.
“I’m looking for a very strong year for the sport,” he said. “Once we get there in June and July, we should see weeklong events.”
Chris Gendek, Head of CVB Destination Services said, “It will likely be July before conventions return. And big conferences, probably not until the end of July or the first of August. Small meetings are returning now. “
The KTIA report states: “The industry supports adjustments to the restaurant tax to allow for an expansion of tax relief options, but only under the conditions that the expansion maintains current restaurant tax requirements in the cities where it was previously enacted an appropriate part of the taxpayers’ money in newly eligible cities is dedicated to the city’s tourism commission. “
Owensboro is currently not eligible for a restaurant tax.
Only smaller cities are allowed to tax restaurant sales under state law.
In 2005, one of the years Owensboro officials tried to amend the law to allow the city a restaurant tax, it was estimated that a 1% tax would raise $ 1.23 million per year for tourism would.
And a 3% tax would bring in $ 3.69 million
The KTIA is also calling for laws that allow take-away cocktails and sports betting.
Casinos?And it advocates a constitutional change to allow casino games.
Kentucky has been talking about casinos – both river boats and land-based ones – since the 1980s.
But the conversation never led to action.
John Bays, who owned the old Executive Inn Rivermont from 1999 to 2005, worked hard to get a casino license here.
Bays said he would build a $ 200 million downtown casino entertainment complex if he could get a license.
The plans were for a $ 50 million casino, a $ 90 million arena with 20,000 seats, a $ 26 million indoor water park, parking garages worth $ 40 million for 14,000 vehicles, a 500-room Addition to its 600-room Executive Inn Rivermont and an expansion of the hotel’s convention center from 40,000 square feet to 100,000 square feet.
The complex, Bays said, would create 3,000 jobs.
Pay would start at $ 15 an hour plus benefits, he said.
And the payroll would be $ 93 million.
The report said, “Gaming is a source of tourism activity and revenue, and both are now particularly critical needs in terms of industry recovery.”
And it says there: “Outdoor activities should continue to be strongly encouraged, and goals that are not normally considered outdoor-oriented should continue the development of outdoor experiences.”
Brian Smith, Chairman of the CVB, said, “It is an exciting time and a challenging time for all of us.”
