Visit Seattle has released hotel occupancy rates for March, which show visitation is increasing but has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
SEATTLE — Seattle is four years into the pandemic, when tourism plummeted. The city has not yet fully recovered from the visitation, but it has made progress.
Visit Seattle recently released its hotel occupancy rates for the month of March, which show that visitation has increased since the pandemic but has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Hotel occupancy rates for the last six years in March were:
Business owners say they have been seeing an increasing number of visitors and feel the city is on the right track to attract tourists back.
“We’ve definitely seen a steady increase in people coming back, but it’s not quite there yet,” said Neal James, owner of Ye Olde Curiosity Shop on the waterfront. “Hopefully this summer will be good, but, you know, we’ll see.”
Ye Olde Curiosity Shop has been in Seattle since 1899 and has been owned by James’ family since the beginning.
“My great-great-grandfather started it,” James said.
He said the store had always been frequented by tourists and said the pandemic was a difficult time for them and tourism had taken a big hit.
“It was hard, and it was even harder here because we had all been through all the construction that has been going on here for so long,” James said of construction in the waterfront area.
Neal said every summer since the pandemic there have been more visitors and he is hopeful that will continue to happen in the future.
“I don’t expect us to feel like we’re back until next year, probably,” James said. “But I hope this summer can at least feel more like, or very close to, a normal summer.”
Although Neal’s business is down on the waterfront, businesses in Pioneer Square also receive a lot of business from tourists.
“We have three hotels within a three-block radius,” said Jesse Spring, owner of the Bad Bishop in Pioneer Square. “So that really helps a lot. And there are underground rides here and some people go to baseball games and football games.”
Spring said he has seen foot traffic from office workers and tourists increase and is hopeful that will continue.
“I just watch people walking up and down the streets and see more and more traffic coming in,” Spring said. “It’s a steady increase and it’s really amazing to see.”
He said large events seem to attract a lot of visitors and he hopes the city continues to bring in concerts, attractions and sporting events that attract visitors.
