BATON ROUGE – Visit Baton Rouge has received hotel stats for the busy Memorial Day Weekend showing a boost in Occupancy Rate during the three-day holiday weekend.
Given that the 10th Anniversary Bayou Country Superfest was a two-day festival compared to a three-day festival in 2016, Saturday’s Occupancy and Revenue numbers were on par with those in 2016. The Occupancy was 83 percent in 2019 versus 84 percent in 2016. Revenue generated was a bit lower given a lower average daily rate per hotel room.
“This puts us back in line with where the Occupancy Rates were in 2016, which means that we’re bringing visitors to the Baton Rouge area over a holiday weekend” said Paul Arrigo, President & CEO of Visit Baton Rouge.
2019 hotel stats compared to 2018 were significantly higher. Occupancy rate climbed roughly 25% and revenue nearly doubled this year over last year due to the festival returning
During the two years that the concert was held in New Orleans, hotel growth has been a factor as well. East Baton Rouge Parish saw an increase of about 400 rooms since 2016. The 2019 numbers reported do not reflect hotel stats outside of East Baton Rouge Parish nor do they include Short Term Rentals (STRs).
Arrigo added, “For two years, we heard from local hospitality industry businesses that they were very interested in Bayou Country Superfest returning to its original location after the two-year construction project was completed in Tiger Stadium. Their interest and input were instrumental in bringing the festival back to Baton Rouge.” Efforts to work with LSU, the City and State to bring this event back shows that there is interest to host events of this magnitude in Baton Rouge.
This week’s report does not include the numbers for Sunday, however, those will be sent next week. Given Saturday’s stats it is expected that Sunday’s numbers will be comparable with those 2016.
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The mission of Visit Baton Rouge is to increase visitation to and awareness of the Baton Rouge Area, therefore enhancing economic impact. For more information, log onto VisitBatonRouge.com. To access all Baton Rouge press releases, log onto VisitBatonRouge.com/media/press-releases.
