A mild winter and more sporting events may have given the region a boost in hotel business to start the year.
Those were among the factors that one Oceanfront hotelier credited for the region’s spike in occupancy that was reflected in a recent report by Smith Travel Research. That report said the Norfolk and Virginia Beach market saw the largest year-over-year increase in occupancy among U.S. markets for the first quarter of 2016, gaining 6.2 percent for a 47.6 percent occupancy level.
Overall, the U.S. hotel industry’s occupancy dropped slightly to 60.7 percent.
Linwood Branch, general manager of Days Inn on Atlantic Avenue, and commissioner on the Virginia Beach Development Authority, said he noticed the spike.
“From all I’ve heard and seen and expected, it’s been an excellent first quarter of the year in terms of tourism,” Branch said. “I think the weather was very cooperative. We had a very mild winter this year and early spring.”
Spring break vacations seemed to linger this year, extending business from that sector, he said. He also attributed the bump to the city hosting more sporting events this season, like cheer and dance competitions and wrestling tournaments.
Branch said he remembers when business was so sparse in the middle of winter when you could “shoot a cannon down Atlantic Avenue and you wouldn’t have hit anything, it was so desolate.”
The commissioner said he believes activity is picking up during off season thanks to city investments like the convention center, the Virginia Aquarium and the Princess Anne Athletic Complex.
“Now we’re doing some pretty decent occupancy numbers,” Branch said.
