Making Chicago a premier destination for tourism and entertainment is a major part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Plan for Economic Growth & Jobs that WBC is implementing to drive growth in Chicago. Last week, the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) Convening Leaders Conference was held in Chicago, attracting more than 4,000 attendees including 2,000 meeting planners. Choose Chicago President and CEO Don Welsh said PCMA’s decision to return to Chicago after a twenty-year hiatus, “…signifies the commitment from labor and the reforms and service improvements at McCormick Place are making a significant and positive impact. The more meetings and conventions we secure, the more jobs we create, which ultimately benefits labor and Chicago’s economy overall.”

The following points summarize recent hotel and air passenger trends for Chicago:

  • Chicago’s overall hotel occupancy rate was 65.6% in December, up from 62.8% a year prior.
  • The overall average daily rate (ADR) was $165.15 in December, up slightly from $164.01 a year ago.
  • The Chicago Central Business District has 107 hotel properties comprising 37,119 rooms. More than 2,500 new rooms are expected to open in the two years, including Hotel Indigo Chicago – Millennium Park (156 rooms, 2016), Nobu Hotel (155 rooms, 2016), and Marriott Marquis McCormick Place (1,200 rooms, 2017).
  • O’Hare was recently renamed the world’s busiest airport in terms of flight operations (passenger data will be released later this year). O’Hare and Midway International airports served a combined 7.21 million air passengers in November 2014, a 4.6% increase year-over-year.

Hotel average daily rate (ADR) and occupancy trends are illustrated in the following charts:

Source: Choose Chicago

For more information on Chicago’s tourism landscape, please refer to the Choose Chicago website and 2013 Annual Report.

Chaired by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, World Business Chicago is the public-private partnership leading the Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs in order to drive business development, cultivate talent, and put Chicago at the forefront of the global economy.

WBC’s “Economic Briefs” track indicators from month to month to gauge the strength of several aspects of Chicago’s economy, including unemployment, population, venture capital, job openings and new hires, home sales, tourism, etc. This data provides a clear analytic framework for specific Plan strategies and initiatives. For a summary of these and other economic indicators, refer to WBC’s monthly Chicago By The Numbers. 

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