Record Number Of Visitors Come To Chicago, Buoying Local Hospitality

Whatever negative is said about Chicago, the world likes coming to visit. Condé Nast Traveler readers have named the city the "best big city in the U.S." for the second year in a row, and Chicago is seeing record numbers of visitors.

"Second City? Not by our count," Condé Nast Traveler says, with a poll of its readers putting Chicago at the top of the favorite list, a notch ahead of New York. The publication lauds Chicago for its architecture, museums, chefs and brewing scene, among other things.

But the magazine's readership counts as a small and affluent sample size. A more revealing metric about the popularity of Chicago as a destination — a trend that supports the local hospitality, retail and entertainment sectors — is the increasing number of visitors.

For the first half of this year, overall visitors to Chicago rose 4.4%, while overnight visitors were up 6%, compared with last year, Crain's Chicago reports. International arrivals at O'Hare and Midway were up 3.4% for the period.

According to Choose Chicago, the city's tourism agency, demand for hotel rooms in the city was up each month this summer compared with a year ago: 2.9% in June, 3.3% in July and 6.6% in August.

The agency also reports that demand for Chicago hotel rooms grew during the less-than-visitor-friendly months of January and February, by 15.9% and 9.4%, respectively, year over year, though overall occupancy is considerably lower during those months than in the summer.

Even though demand for hotel rooms is up, so is supply, meaning that hotels still find themselves in a competitive market in Chicago.

As of September, the Chicago central business district offers 132 hotel properties with 43,018 rooms, the agency says, with three more properties opening in the urban core this month: Hotel Julian, St. Clair and Aloft Mag Mile.

In Hyde Park, The Olympia Cos. has just opened the Sophy Hyde Park, a 98-room boutique hotel at 53rd Street and Dorchester Avenue. Developed by The Olympia Cos. and Smart Hotels, the property was designed to be a four-diamond property and engineered to achieve LEED Silver.

“In a densely competitive hotel market like Chicago’s, you have to deliver something inspired,” The Olympia Cos. Vice President, Hotel Management Sara Masterson said.

“Olympia Hotel Management is known for creating hotels with beautiful guest rooms, but also restaurants and public spaces that draw in the community," she said. "That creates a compelling environment, especially in a diverse neighborhood like Hyde Park.”