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Hoteliers enjoyed record-breaking Lollapalooza weekend

Nearly $40M in revenue generated over three nights

Hoteliers Enjoyed Record-Breaking Lollapalooza Weekend
Festival goers at Lollapalooza (Getty)

Musical notes brought banknotes to Chicago hotels during Lollapalooza last week, marking a successful peak of the tourism season added on to what’s been a bounce-back year for the lodging industry.

From Thursday through Saturday night, while the music festival was in full swing, a total of 131,190 rooms were booked in the city. That was up 18 percent from 2022 and a record for Lollapalooza weekend, Crain’s reported, citing Choose Chicago.

The event generated nearly $40 million in revenue during those three nights, marking a 27 percent increase from one year prior. Occupancy rates hovered between 93 and 97 percent, which was the highest for the festival since 2018. Attendees came in from all over, traveling 33 percent farther than last year, according to online ticket seller Vivid Seats.

The success of last weekend suggests that Chicago’s lodging industry may have turned the corner. After the pandemic hit, hotel revenue and occupancies plummeted, as tourism, business travel and large events whittled away.

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Through the first half of 2023, hotel revenue was a record high of $1.12 billion. That’s a 24 percent jump from the same period last year, and up 2 percent from the mid-year point in 2019. Room demand reached 4.98 million through June, equating to an 18 percent year-over-year increase, but still 11 percent lower than in 2019.

Chicago’s restaurant scene also reaped the benefits of a busy travel weekend. With foot-traffic and tourism moving closer to pre-pandemic levels, restaurants are also poised to make a comeback after many were forced to shutter their doors during the public health crisis.

“Restaurant-bars in the central business district and River North did really well after the crowds got out,” Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, told the outlet. “During COVID, there was still a lot of people being cautious. It felt like we’re back to normal.”

— Quinn Donoghue

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Choose ChicagoSam Toia
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festivalsHospitalityHotel MarketLollapalooza