Has Greater Lansing hotel business rebounded in 2021?

When the Courtyard by Marriott Lansing Downtown opened in February 2021, staff didn't know what to expect.

The location was the first new hotel in downtown Lansing in more than three decades, and it opened during a pandemic.

"[It was] just not really knowing what to expect and having incomplete or inaccurate information to compare ourselves to," said Corri Harvey, director of sales and marketing for the location. "We've been pretty lucky."

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Before the pandemic, Lansing welcomed about 5.3 million visitors a year, bringing about $682 million to the local economy.

With minimal travel in 2020, those numbers tumbled, taking a toll on the hospitality industry.

In 2019, Lansing's hotels were more than 60% occupied. By January 2021, that rate had fallen to 36%.

MSU football, conventions boost business

With the return of in-person conventions and Michigan State football this year, local hotels were closer to the occupancy rates seen before the pandemic. And while there are still challenges ahead, the industry is looking forward to a better 2022.

"It has been a slow and steady growth," said Julie Pingston, president and CEO of the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau. "I've wanted it to be faster, but we'll take slow and steady growth, because growth is growth."

After a difficult start to 2021, local hotel occupancy rates increased by about 20%, seeing between 55% and 58% occupancy from June to October, according to data from the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"It was absolutely impacted by the return of Michigan State students to campus and football weekends," Pingston said.

She expects hotels to end the year with similar rates, but those numbers are still down from pre-pandemic levels.

Although there's only about a 10% difference from pre-pandemic occupancy, it has a significant effect on hotels.

"It doesn't sound like a lot, but it still is a significant climb for us as a community," Pingston said. "It involves over 200,000 extra rooms being sold, and that values at over $150 million being lost. But we're happy we aren't where we were this time last year."

The return of meetings and conventions this fall also boosted business.

"We rely a lot on meetings and conventions," Pingston said. "We're seeing a lot more interest...which has been missing. It's not back to the large conventions and trade shows just yet, but there is a lot more activity than previous months have given us, so we're looking forward to that."

Along with conventions, sporting events other than MSU football have started booking again for 2022. Next year, the Greater Lansing area will host events for the Michigan High School Football Coaches Association, the men's and women's NCAA National Cross Country Championships, the USA Judo Youth Nationals and the International Bowling Federation Youth Nationals.

"[We're] looking forward to them all taking place," Pingston said. "They need to have great attendance and bring a lot of people to the community."

Despite challenges facing the industry, the Lansing area didn't lose any hotels as a result of the pandemic. In fact, two new hotels opened in 2021. In addition to the downtown Marriott, The Graduate opened in East Lansing.

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"We're doing well, especially considering that we added more inventory," Pingston said. "As the market continues to grow, we have to find new things to occupy those rooms. Both of those properties have been unique and found some good niches so far."

The return of in-person events at the Lansing Center this year helped the downtown Marriott, Harvey said.

"Hosting some of those larger, citywide events this fall, as well as some sporting things throughout the summer, that really did help," she said.

Although specific data on 2021 occupancy at the Marriott wasn't available, Harvey said she and her team were optimistic about next year.

"All things pending, it's gearing up to be a great year, and we're looking forward to working with everybody here downtown," she said.

Staffing issues compound losses

Despite more people being ready to book hotel rooms, staffing shortages have created additional challenges for the hospitality industry.

"The hardest hill to still climb has been related to the workforce and not being able to sell space, or sell rooms, based on not having enough employees to then serve those guests," Pingston said. "A client might want to book a 300-person banquet, but the property can only book it for 150 people because they just don't have the staff to accommodate it."

As of October 2021, there were approximately 1.7 million job openings in the leisure and hospitality industry in the U.S., according to preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Balancing the desire to bring in guests with the level of service a hotel can realistically provide has been a challenge.

"Hospitality people love helping and taking care of other people, so as we go through labor issues and shortages and supply chain issues that we're seeing...it's important to remember that we're here because we're passionate about it," Harvey said. "We appreciate the grace and the patronage that people do bring to our establishments."

Lansing's hospitality industry is looking forward to more growth in the near future, with two new hotels scheduled to open in 2023 as part of the Red Cedar Development project.

"We're looking forward to 2023 when that opens," Pingston said. "That'll be about the right timing for when things start to increase and grow further in our area."

Contact reporter Elena Durnbaugh at (517) 231-9501 or edurnbaugh@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ElenaDurnbaugh.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Has Greater Lansing hotel business rebounded in 2021?