The Owensboro Air Show will be the place to be for thousands of residents and visitors this weekend. More than 50,000 people are expected over the three-day event. With the influx of out of town visitors expected, hotels across Owensboro have been preparing for high occupancy.
Most hotels across Owensboro are completely booked for air show weekend, which runs Sept. 14-16. Downtown hotels, especially, have been booked far in advance.
“I’ll say that I am sold out for the next four nights,” said Lauren Worthington, general manager at the Holiday Inn Owensboro Riverfront. Worthington said the numbers reflect a combination of those on business travel and the upcoming air show.
“At this point, up until Sunday, we are sold out,” said Worthington. “This is pretty normal during air show time.”
Worthington added that the Holiday Inn hosts pilots and mechanical crews performing in the air show, and that the hotel’s meeting spaces are often occupied by both groups. Twenty to 30 rooms have been reserved for pilots and crew, well in advance of the event.
The Hampton Inn & Suites Downtown Owensboro/Waterfront is no less busy than the Holiday Inn. General Manager Matthew McCloud says occupancy at his hotel is sold out as well.
“Anticipation for the Blue Angels shows has been high,” says McCloud. “We are sold out, fully booked. We’ve been booked for months now.”
This is McCloud’s fifth air show experience, and he says the Blue Angels normally attract, not only locals but those from regional areas outside of Owensboro. However, this weekend isn’t much different from a normal weekend at the downtown Hampton Inn.
“We run extremely high occupancies year-round, so it’s business as normal for us,” says McCloud. “Since it’s [the air show] right on our doorstep, we’re managing some crowd control. Otherwise, we are providing the same hospitality we always provide for our guests.”
It’s not just downtown hotels experiencing high occupancy numbers. The Fairfield Inn, located on Owensboro’s south side at 800 Salem Street, says they’ve got about 3 rooms left for this Saturday. Dotty Huff, the self-manager of the Fairfield Inn, says its business as usual at their hotel as well since the hotel is used to high occupancy numbers.
On the west side of town, the Sleep Inn, located at 51 Bon Harbor Hills Dr., is expecting a packed house as well. Front desk manager, Cissy Bishop, couldn’t provide exact occupancy rates, but she says they’ve got a busy weekend ahead of them. As far as being sold out, Bishop said occupancy at her hotel was in the same ballpark as the others.
“It’s a really good weekend coming up,” she said.
