Visit Seattle Unveils Strong Summer 2024 Hotel Performance Data and Previews Upcoming Arts and Culture Highlights

Summer hotel performance nears or surpasses pre-pandemic levels

SEATTLE – Today, at its inaugural Ovation meeting, destination marketing organization Visit Seattle revealed Seattle’s strong summer 2024 hotel performance data and provided a preview of upcoming events and programs that will continue to draw visitors to the region throughout the fall and winter months.

The event, held at storied downtown Seattle venue Benaroya Hall, included insights from civic leaders, including Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and King County Executive Dow Constantine. Local arts and culture leader and former 5th Avenue Theatre Managing Director Bernie Griffin served as the moderator for a discussion between panelists Bill Berry, Executive Director of the 5th Avenue Theatre; Michele Smith, CEO of the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP); and Ellen Walker, Executive Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet as they talked about the importance of the cultural sector to tourism, as well as challenges and opportunities for leaders of arts and culture organizations in Seattle.

Diverse Array of Events Drive Strong Summer Performance at Downtown Hotels

A variety of events between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day weekend helped Seattle’s downtown hotels sell 1.7% more rooms this summer than last, and 1.6% more rooms than during the summer of 2019. Occupancy, or the percentage of available rooms that were sold, was up 3% from last summer and at 96.4% of pre-pandemic levels, slightly slower progress explained by a 6% growth in room supply since 2019. Average daily rates (ADR) were up 1.4% from last summer, and 11.1% higher than the summer of 2019. Hotels brought in 3.4% more revenue than last summer, and 13.1% more than in the summer of 2019.

Some data highlights from the Memorial Day to Labor Day weekend period include:

• A winning Memorial Day weekend (Friday, May 24 to Monday, May 27), when downtown hotels sold 43,760 rooms, occupancy was 72.0%, ADR was $225, and revenue was $9.9 million – all metrics near or up from Memorial Day weekend 2023 and 2019.
• Downtown hotels broke revenue records multiple times this summer. July became the second-highest revenue month in city history, at $120.5 million. That’s second only to July 2023 ($122.4 million), with August ($114.5 million) and June ($109.6 million) of this year taking third and fourth place.
• In July, downtown hotels sold more than 400,000 rooms in a month for the first time since 2019 – and by more than 8,000 rooms.
• Downtown hotels finished the summer with a great Labor Day weekend (Friday, August 30 to Monday, September 2), selling 51,328 rooms. Occupancy was 84.5%, ADR was $307, and revenue was $16.3 million – all metrics near or up from Labor Day weekend 2023 and 2019.

Contributing factors to hotel performance this summer included a robust cruise schedule and events like Bumbershoot, Capitol Hill Block Party, Northwest Folklife, Bite of Seattle, Day In Day Out, Seattle’s 50th Pride Parade, Seattle Art Fair, and the 75th anniversary of SeaFair. Blockbuster concerts like Metallica, Chris Stapleton, Olivia Rodrigo, and Foo Fighters delighted locals and visitors alike. Seattle sports fans filled Mariners games at T-Mobile Park; Reign and Sounders games at Lumen Field; and Storm games at Climate Pledge Arena. Also monumental was the August 29 opening of the Seattle Aquarium’s new Ocean Pavilion and the ongoing revitalization of Seattle’s Waterfront, as well as the August 30 light rail expansion bringing passengers from Snohomish County into King County and the Seattle area.

A busy convention calendar also contributed to strong hotel performance this summer, with a 44% increase in contracted Seattle Convention Center room nights in Q3. Large groups like IEEE’s Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition and PAX West utilized both Seattle Convention Center buildings, drawing tens of thousands of visitors to downtown Seattle and tens of millions of dollars in local economic impact. In July, the Seattle Convention Center was named North America’s Leading Meetings and Conference Centre for 2024 in the World Travel Awards.

“The variety and steady cadence of events and activities throughout the summer made Seattle one of the nation’s top travel destinations, and had a positive impact on both the local economy and quality of life for residents,” said Tammy Canavan, President and CEO, Visit Seattle. “The rest of this year and 2025 will feature an eclectic array of arts, entertainment and sporting events which will continue to draw visitors to the area throughout the coming months, and our Visit Seattle team is busily planning for further opportunities as we prepare for the FIFA Club World Cup and FIFA World Cup matches coming to Seattle in 2025 and 2026, respectively.”

Coming Attractions: Arts and Entertainment Preview

While the summer months continue to lead Seattle’s tourism industry, an impressive lineup of arts and culture programming will serve to draw visitors throughout the fall and winter seasons. Additional events can be found on the Visit Seattle event calendar.

A sample of some of the cultural highlights for the remainder of 2024 and early 2025 include:

• Keith Haring, A Radiant Legacy at MoPOP, Oct. 11-March 23
• Wicked at The Paramount Theatre, Nov. 6-Dec. 1
• Climate Pledge Arena concerts include Usher, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Cyndi Lauper, Billie Eilish, and John Legend, various dates Nov-Jan.
• Cloudbreak citywide live music festival, various locations, Nov. 7-27
• Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins at 5th Avenue Theatre, Nov. 22-Dec. 26
• Enchant, a holiday light maze and experience returns to T-Mobile Park, Nov. 22-Dec. 29
• Seattle Christmas Market Nov. 21-Dec. 24
• Cirque du Soleil’s Koozå, Jan. 19-March 2
• Seattle Museum Month various locations, Feb. 1-28
• Hamilton at Paramount Theatre, Feb. 4-March 2
• Waitress at the 5th Avenue Theatre, March 11-30
• Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei at Seattle Art Museum, March 12-Sept. 7

See here for a sampling of photos from organizations represented at Ovation. Photographer credits are listed with each image.

More About Visit Seattle:
Visit Seattle has served as the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for Seattle and King County for more than 50 years. A 501(c)(6) organization, Visit Seattle enhances the economic prosperity of the region through global destination branding along with competitive programs and campaigns in leisure travel marketing, convention sales and overseas tourism development. Visit visitseattle.org.