In 2019, the occupancy rate of almost 40 hotels in Evansville was 60 percent.
Then Covid-19 struck and it shrunk to the mid-1940s.
“The hospitality and restaurant industries were hardest hit,” said Inder Singh, general manager of Howard Johnson on Green River Road in Evansville. “When we saw the numbers go down, we were concerned.”
But now – business is picking up.
“I’ve seen it increase for the past two months,” said Singh. “Not like 2019, but we’re seeing a slight occupancy in occupancy, along with revenue from having our facilities open – like our pool is now fully open.”
The increase – thanks to the regression of events into the tri-state.
“There are a lot of tournaments going on this year,” said Jim Wood, President and CEO of Visit Evansville.
“We look forward to welcoming the teenagers and families,” said Singh.
Hotels are not fully back yet – business travel is still on the decline.
“We’re booking a lot of stores in 2022-2223 and 24,” said Wood. “But we’ll still have this cave here in 2021 because many companies have canceled. So we’re working feverishly to get back on track.”
The owners of the Howard Johnson in Evansville hope they will continue to see more pedestrian traffic.
“The goal is that everything is back to normal for our guests,” said Singh.
