With July came many more hospitality jobs in Chicago

Posted on August 28, 2014

Chicago surpassed the one million mark for occupied hotel rooms in July, which resulted in hospitality jobs in Chicago.

m=More than one million rooms have been sold in a single month. Total room demand for July was up 1.4% to a record 1,004,557 room nights.

This milestone follows an exceptional first half of 2014 which produced record demand with a 2.2% increase over the first six months of 2013. Chicago’s hotel community offered an additional 313,000 room nights compared to the same period in 2013.

This growth represents 4.67 million hotel rooms occupied in the first-half of 2014, which further supports the 133,000 jobs and more than $13 billion in spending generated as a result of annual visitation to Chicago.

July’s record performance signals continued positive results for Chicago’s hotel community through the end of 2014. The total room demand of 1,004,557 room nights in July was supported by the Group segment which grew 9.0% to 328,806 room nights. Leisure demand grew by 1.6% to a record 655,783 room nights. Contracted room demand was up 11.6% to a record 19,968 rooms.

“Visitors from around world are quickly discovering the tremendous experiences Chicago offers year-round. We are extremely pleased with these results and the impact on Chicago’s overall economy.” said Welsh. “Mayor Emanuel and our partners continue to support the mission and goals of Choose Chicago. The investments we have made in the regional, national and international markets are working.”