CHARLOTTE — Adding the Jumpman Invitational to a December lineup that already included college football’s ACC Championship Game and the Duke’s Mayo Bowl will provide uptown hotels and restaurants with an exclamation point to finish the year.
Mohammad Jenatian, head of the Greater Charlotte Hospitality & Tourism Alliance, told CBJ the continuing growth of sports-related tourism, combined with more people from the region coming here for shopping and dining weekends, have fueled an industry rebound. Depending on how comparisons are made, it has matched or eclipsed revenue records set in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.
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The recovery is even more impressive given that business travel remains well below pre-Covid levels. For many years, business travel accounted for the bulk of Charlotte hospitality revenue.
No longer. According to industry tracking firm Kalibri Labs, local hotel revenue for 2022 will surpass 2019, thanks in large part to a whopping 28.8% increase in leisure hotel bookings compared with three years ago. The Charlotte Sports Foundation, the nonprofit that operates or promotes many of the largest local events, was created to boost tourism spending and raise the area’s visibility through sports.
CBJ talked with several hospitality leaders in Charlotte about their take on the events.
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