250th was good to local hotels, officials say

It’s Aug. 21. Hotels got big July boost, and are up year to date in occupancy and room rates. Group that manages our power grid takes steps to curb data center impacts.

La Quinta Inn morphed into higher end Hyatt Select because of proximity to new sports & events center (Williamsburg Watch photo)

Hotels in the Historic Triangle got a boost from the 250^th Independence celebration in July, and are outpacing the average growth statewide in occupancy rates for the year, according to figures from the Williamsburg Tourism Council.

For the year, Historic Triangle hotels have seen occupancy grow 7.7%, more than double the state 2.8% growth. But local hotel occupancy still lags the state.

Ronald Kirkland, president of the Williamsburg Hotel & Motel Association, credited the big July bump to publicity the area received from the Today Show broadcast before July 4. The $1 million cost was paid for by Visit Williamsburg, the regional tourism promotion group.

And he predicted there would be more growth this fall as larger sporting events get booked into the new Greater Williamsburg Sports and Events Center.

“That’s when we’re going to start seeing those big, 1,000 to 2,000 people (events),” he noted.