With a record number of hotel rooms occupied in June, local businesses also saw increased foot traffic into their doors downtown and throughout the city.
CVB Destination Manager Dave Kirk said June 2024 will go down as “the best June we’ve ever seen” regarding the number of hotel rooms occupied. Throughout the 30 days of June, Kirk said the hotels throughout the city reported a 68% occupancy rate.
While this percentage is not higher than in previous years, Kirk noted that the number of rooms sold has never been this high due to the increase in hotels available in the City.
“This month was the most amount of rooms sold with the highest room cost rate in Daviess County history,” Kirk said.
He noted that the month was busy with conventions and events, including the Great Race, ROMP, sports tournaments, OMG!Con, Jeeps and Jamz, RiverCity Bike Expo, PorchFest, Strawberry Festival, and more.
While they can see the results of the rooms occupied, Kirk said they will not be able to see the economic development results until August. Nonetheless, businesses said they felt it throughout the month.
Oralis Radilla, owner of Don Mario and Real Hacienda, said that they saw more foot traffic in all corners of the city, with downtown, south Frederica, and KY 54 locations all seeing visitors come in from across the country.
“We see people kind of jump in between, back and forth between the locations, but it’s fun to see people from Oklahoma and Kansas,” Radilla said. “We met some folks from California, and that’s great to see them come in.”
With Don Mario just walking distance from downtown hotels, businesses that operate around town also saw benefit like Julep Home and Gift, also saw some increased traffic compared to last year’s June.
Owner Elizabeth Wilson said they try to see where people come from when they enter the store. She said some out-of-towners and some locals purchased for the first time. With wedding season in full swing, several hotel guests also purchased wedding gifts from the store.
“June was definitely bigger this year than the year before. We had a lot of weddings happening in June, and that always brings in people from out of town, but that contributes to a little bit as well,” Wilson said.
Retail and restaurants saw growth, yet Amy Gilmore, owner of Gramps, said she gained more insight into customers’ trends with a little coffee talk in the morning. When guests enter the store, Gilmore said she often asks about any fun plans or trips people may be on.
“I got answers from people saying they were headed to Mammoth Cave, getting ready to go to Holiday World, in town for the record show, ROMP, the State Bar Association,” Gilmore recalled.
She noted they are positioned just close enough to the hotels that they see people coming from downtown and elsewhere on their way downtown. This is mainly due to hotel staff recommending her as a local coffee and donut shop to guests.
And for those traveling who don’t wish to leave the hotel, the owner of Lure Seafood & Grille, Ben Skiadas, said that it still brings in built-in traffic for its customers.
“We have definitely made the best of our space here,” Skiadas said. “We’re fortunate that many locals have been really awesome patrons over the years, but it definitely helps to have that built-in hotel traffic.”
He said that when the families come in, they are often surprised by the quality of the service at Lure and by the experience in Owensboro as a whole. Many cite the downtown riverfront and people throughout the city as making the trip memorable.
Each business owner acknowledged that the Owensboro crowd is their primary support system, and it is equally important to provide a similar quality experience for those coming from out of town for the first time.
“Our hometown people are our everyday people. We see them all the time. So when we have a conference or have the city put on things that bring people in, it makes a big difference in our daily business,” Gilmore said.
