During football season, Bluemont Hotel’s manager Cale Harrington is busy overseeing budgets, organizing the lobby’s couches and managing the needs of customers, but his first year on the job has given him more customers to manage than his predecessors.
During the city commission meeting on Tuesday, the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) Director Maria Rozell said hotel occupancy in Manhattan is slightly higher in the first three quarters of 2023 than previous years.
Rozell reported an average monthly occupancy of 63.99% from January to August 2023, peaking at 71% in April and hitting a low of 56.6% in January. The average monthly occupancy of 2022 was 54.73%, peaking at 65.1% in June and hitting a low of 35.6% in January.
Airbnb and Vrbo house occupancy increased from previous years, averaging 157 homes per month compared to 149 houses in 2022 and 112 in 2021. Universally, profit is expected to be higher than the previous three years.
Dennis Cook, executive director of the Aggieville Business Association, said he believes Manhattan is heading in the right direction. He said the Aggieville Midtown Project will help bring more visitors into Manhattan and provide them with another hotel to stay in.
“We’re kind of back to pre-COVID levels now,” Harrington said. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Harrington said Bluemont took a “near 50% hit” to their revenue, causing layoffs. Harrington said other than K-State games, many guests come from conference and event attendees.
“Getting back to pre-pandemic times is great for us,” Liquid Art Winery co-owner Danielle Tegtmeier said. “We thrive off of people coming to our venue in person.”
Tegtmeier said Liquid Art Winery was at its lowest in 2020, when COVID-19 made them unable to operate for three weeks. Her biggest financial loss was in wedding revenue, as limitations on guests made it difficult to raise a profit. Tegtmeier sees the uptick in Manhattan’s visitation positively as they’re likely to get more customers.
Hannah Pease – owner of Little Batch Company LLC – opened her store's location in 2021 and has only seen growth since then. “We’re in a unique situation,” Pease said. “Moving from a home kitchen into an actual commercial, we actually had an increase in business.” She said most of her business comes from her Saturday market sales, saying football and basketball season provides her the most customers.
The Manhattan Convention and Visitors Bureau will give their fourth quarter report next year after calculations have been completed.
