Dive Brief:
- Sports tourism drove meetings growth in Las Vegas, which led U.S. markets for year-over-year event volume growth in June, according to hospitality intelligence provider Knowland.
- Among the top 25 U.S. markets, St. Louis, Nashville, Orlando and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida, trailed Las Vegas for year-over-year events growth in the month.
- Las Vegas also led the top 25 U.S. markets for events growth in May. And while sports tourism has been a major driver of leisure tourism in recent months, Knowland’s data shows the industry drives meetings and events travel, too.
Dive Insight:
Las Vegas’ meetings volume grew 22% year over year in June, as sports entertainment “jumped into the top five industry segments” for meetings, according to Knowland.
The jump was primarily a result of meetings related to the NHL draft. Las Vegas also saw meetings in the national association, technology, training/education and wedding categories in June. (In May, Las Vegas’ meetings growth was driven primarily by technology sector events.)
The market with the second-most growth, St. Louis, experienced a 12% year-over-year increase in events volume in June.
In terms of secondary markets, Louisville, Kentucky, saw the most year-on-year growth in June, led by events in the financial and banking sector. Louisville was followed by Madison, Wisconsin; Sacramento, California; Pittsburgh; and the Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Virginia, area.
Rising interest in experiential travel has led to a boom in sports tourism, Sachin Avadhani, EY Americas’ hospitality sector leader, and Michael Selinger, EY’s senior manager of strategy and transaction, told Hotel Dive in May.
U.S. hotel companies are getting in on the action, including Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, which partnered with Minor League Baseball to allow its loyalty program members to exchange points for baseball tickets. Meanwhile, Marriott Bonvoy partnered with the U.S. Soccer Federation to offer exclusive fan experiences this summer.
Within the past year, Las Vegas resort operators have seen record ADRs from Formula 1’s Grand Prix, held in November, and Super Bowl LVIII in February.
