ST. LOUIS — With thousands in town to watch the Olympics trials, St. Louis is hoping gymnastics can help businesses bounce back, especially hotels knocked off balance by the pandemic.
The St. Louis Sports Commission expected over 16,000 people Friday night.
The buzz at the Dome also fires up the rest of downtown.
Chris Roseman, Vice President of the St. Louis Sports Commission, says, "The hotels are full, the restaurants are full."
For the Last Hotel on Washington Avenue, General Manager Michael Qualizza adds, "The Olympic trials has made the hotel extremely busy."
The doors are open, luggage carts are stacked, and the staff hustles.
A busy flow compared with a stagnant 2020. The hospitality industry took a tumble during the pandemic.
"Our occupancy was as low as 0%, the hotel being completely empty. Five or six months, we’re talking about a business that never got up ever 8 to 10% occupancy," Qualizza explains.
It was a hard pill to swallow after opening up July 2019, especially having all 142 rooms filled for a big weekend.
He says, "NCAA tournament, we were sold out the weekend before COVID. We go from 100% sold out to literally 1% occupancy in two days."
It's bouncing back, though, with the Olympic gymnastics team trials.
"We’ll be closer to 80% occupancy, Saturday we’ll be closer to 90% occupancy. This hotel is rebounding," he adds.
In the trials' four-day span, Roseman expects over $28 million to come through.
Now that's giving downtown a chance to land back on its feet.
