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Minneapolis achieves another record year in hospitality
Minneapolis (Feb. 26, 2016) – Meet Minneapolis, Convention and Visitors Association, announced today that Minneapolis saw its best year ever in hospitality, achieving highs in hotel occupancy, convention center revenue, future hotel room nights booked and future events and conventions booked, among other measures, and topping the records set in 2014.
"Remember how we called 2014 the 'Best. Year. Ever.'?" asked Melvin Tennant, president and CEO, Meet Minneapolis. "Well, 2015 was even better. Through the efforts of the Meet Minneapolis team and the entire hospitality industry, 2015 is one for the record books. Again!"
Meet Minneapolis is responsible for achieving annual goals on its contract with the City of Minneapolis including key performance indicators, and all were met with record success in 2015: 589,000 future hotel room nights booked for meetings, conventions, sporting events and leisure travelers, over $2.4 million in private revenue earned and $18.1 million in revenue earned at the Minneapolis Convention Center, which is the highest revenue recorded for the facility in its history.
Hosting a record 604 meetings and conventions in 2015 that were booked by Meet Minneapolis, the city's annual hotel occupancy increased to an all-time record high 74 percent with more all-time record highs of $153 annual average daily rate (ADR) and $112 revenue per available room (RevPAR). The healthy hotel industry is spurring development of new hotels, as expected, with 2,138 additional hotel rooms currently being built or in development.
Minneapolis now boasts 32,905 leisure and hospitality industry jobs, which is 10 percent of all jobs in the city.
The value of future meetings and conventions booked in the past year mean an estimated economic impact of $625 million for the area in future years. Significant conventions booked last year include:
2019 Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (47,000 room nights)
2018 – 2022 Midwest Poultry Federation (2,200 room nights in each of five years)
2021 American Veterinary Medical Association (14,000 room nights)
2017 Neighborworks America (8,500 room nights)
2015 – 2019 US Open Racquetball (2,340 room nights in each of five years)
2017 USA Volleyball (two events with 84,380 total room nights)
Additionally, 2015 was the year Meet Minneapolis successfully launched Sports Minneapolis to further its reach in the sports arena by recruiting, enhancing and producing sporting events that benefit the community, and opened Minneapolis Visitor Information on Nicollet, a unique facility combining Shop (locally made and inspired artisan products in partnership with St. Croix Retail), Move (partnering with Move Minneapolis for bicycling, rideshare and transit services) and Find (visitor information services) on the corner of Nicollet Mall and 5th Street in the CenterPoint Energy building.
2016 is shaping up to be another busy year for Minneapolis' hospitality industry between the anticipated opening of the new U.S. Bank Stadium, the Ryder Cup in the fall and numerous conventions and sporting events that will bring thousands more visitors and millions in spending. Key convention and meeting groups expected this year include:
· American Foundry Society 2016 CastExpo, April 16-19, 10,000 attendees
· Midwest Volleyball Warehouse 2016 Northern Lights Qualifier, April 29-May 1, 15,000 attendees
· Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) 2016 North American conference, May 29-31, 800 attendees
· National Sheriffs Association 2016 Annual Meeting & Exposition, June 25-29, 4,000 attendees
· Professional Golfers Association of America 2016 Ryder Cup, Sept. 27-Oct. 2, 40,000 attendees
· 2016 Congressional Medal of Honor Society Convention, Oct. 3-10, 1,800 attendees
"Last year I said I hoped to replicate the success of 2014 in the future," said Tennant. "I could not be more pleased with how this past year turned out and with the events on the horizon like the Super Bowl in 2018 and NCAA Men's Final Four in 2019, plus so many more, I would expect to be sharing similar messages of success for years to come."
ABOUT MEET MINNEAPOLIS
Meet Minneapolis is a private, not-for-profit, member-based association. It actively promotes and sells the Minneapolis area as a destination for conventions and meetings, works to maximize the visitor experience and markets the city as a desirable tourist destination to maximize the economic benefit of the greater Minneapolis area.
Meet Minneapolis is accredited by the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) of the Destination Marketing Association International.
Online: www.minneapolis.org and http://go.minneapolis.org
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/meetminneapolis?ref=ts
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/meetminneapolis
On Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/meetminneapolis/
Kristen Montag, communication and public relations manager, 612.767.8038, kristenm@minneapolis.org, @Minneapolis_PR on Twitter.