Approximately 35 percent of the 5,666 hotel rooms in Rochester were occupied in January, compared with around 56 percent in January 2020. Revenue per available room declined 44 percent compared to the same period last year.

“The hospitality industry, including hotels and restaurants, was likely the first company to be affected by the pandemic. And we will probably be the last to return to full capacity, ”said Joe Ward, President of Experience Rochester. “And that makes sense, as hard as it is to swallow.”

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However, hotel rooms in Rochester fill up faster than elsewhere as patients return to the Mayo Clinic. Ward noted that Rochester saw some temporary hotel closings at the start of the pandemic, but the city didn’t see the permanent hotel closings that other cities had hit.

January’s 35 percent occupancy doesn’t look bad compared to the 15 percent rates Rochester hotels reported in spring 2020. In many other cities without a Mayo Clinic, occupancy is still 15 percent, Ward said.

Michelle Milde, director of marketing at Avra ​​Hospitality, said approximately 90 percent of guests who stayed at the new downtown Hilton, DoubleTree By Hilton, and Hilton Garden Inn in 2021 were patients at the Mayo Clinic.

While the Hilton’s occupancy rate fell about 20 percent in January, Milde said things are slowly improving.

“We are moving in the right direction in terms of occupancy,” she said. “Our team is optimistic.”

Jake Kaput of Hilton Hotel Guest Services answers a call at the hotel in downtown Rochester on Wednesday March 3, 2021. (Ken Klotzbach / kklotzbach)

Med City Hotels certainly do better than many of their counterparts in other Minnesota cities.

According to data released by Explore Minnesota Tourism this week, Minneapolis hotels reported 14 percent year-to-date in January, while St. Cloud hotels were up 24 percent. The combined rate for all Minnesota hotels was 30 percent for January.

As patients return to the Mayo Clinic and Rochester hotels, they are not getting as far away as they have been in the past, Mayo Clinic chief financial officer Dennis Dahlen said last week when he announced the clinic’s 2020 financial results .

“International travel is not back to normal,” he said. “People stay closer to home.”

Ward confirmed that Rochester hotels do not have as many guests flying into the city from international or domestic destinations.

“As things started to open up, the ‘Great American Drive’ started and Americans were back on road trips instead of flying,” he said. “Most of the business at Mayo Clinic comes from a propulsion market rather than a fly market.”

This has resulted in more economical visitors coming to Rochester, meaning that long-term stays and hotels with limited service have more guests returning than the upscale hotels.

As medical traffic increases, the usual visitors for conventions and major events such as weddings and music concerts cannot return until things are better. Ward said that while the Mayo Civic Center is happy to host vaccination clinics, help with distance learning, and protect the homeless, he and his team are eager to get back to their usual jobs.

A full recovery is not likely to come until later this year at the earliest. The major annual meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses will not resume until 2022.

The first big events in Mayo Civic Centerunrelated to vaccination clinics are tentatively slated for July 2021, with the calendar getting busier in the fall and during the holiday season.

The Minnesota Assemblies of God have scheduled a meeting with an estimated 3,200 attendees in October. The local Nerdin Out Con pop culture and comic convention is also scheduled for October. The twice rescheduled Jim Gaffigan comedy show is now slated for November.

As the grip of the pandemic eased, Ward said people in the local hospitality industry were preparing for things to get better. That means bringing the employees back and preparing to get back to normal levels as safely as possible.

“Hotels, restaurants and the civic center are working on our post-COVID plans to be ready for recovery,” he said.

The planned opening of the newest hotel in Med City is a positive sign – Hyatt House Rochester. Located at the intersection of Civic Center Drive and First Avenue Northwest, the $ 44 million extended stay hotel with 172 units is expected to open on March 25th.

Milde said the teams at Rochester’s Avra ​​Hotels are looking forward to spring.

“We remain confident that things continue to move in the right direction,” she said. “After what we’ve seen over the past two months … We continue to look forward to going back to the pre-pandemic figures … We are excited about what we’re seeing right now.”