SAN ANTONIO — Tourism in the Alamo City is on the rise based on recent data, which shows hotel revenue was up more than 400% from last April.
Industry experts now have their eyes set on Memorial Day weekend and the summer months for continuing economic improvement.
“When you look downtown at the Alamo Plaza area, you look at our theme parks, you look at all the attractions, they’re just seeing great traffic,” said Richard Oliver, Visit San Antonio’s director planning and community outreach.
The coronavirus pandemic pierced the San Antonio economy by shutting down businesses and impacting livelihoods.
Oliver stressed the city is bouncing back as indicated one month ago when spring break and NCAA women’s tournament attracted tourists.
“Our hotel occupancy numbers went up dramatically,” Oliver said.
Room revenue exploded to nearly $90 million. However, it’ll take some time before tourism numbers catch up with pre-pandemic totals.
Oliver noted San Antonio lost nearly 300 meetings and more than $475 million in business during the pandemic.
There is renewed optimism with Memorial Day weekend, and the coming months to bolster business.
“They’ve got a lot of money, they’ve waited a long time to get out of quarantine and come to San Antonio. As we look toward the summer, everybody is scrambling trying to get their staff back up knowing that we’re going to have quite a volume of traffic coming in,” Oliver said.
Among the businesses experiencing increased foot traffic is the Alamo Antique Mall downtown San Antonio.
“It’s been good, can’t complain,” said store manager, Lovey Deuley. “We get them (customers) from up north, from New York and everywhere and it’s like, why San Antonio? They love the city.”
Deuley acknowledged last year proved especially tough on business due to being shut down for at least two months.
Despite the financial wounds, she’s prepared to welcome thousands of people this weekend and beyond.
“We do get a lot of Texas visitors during the holiday. It’s a quick weekend vacation and close to home, so we’re expecting a nice crowd,” Deuley said.
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