Raleigh boutique occupancy uptick sign of things to come
For the past couple weekends, the Longleaf Hotel has been sold out. It's the first time the boutique hotel has been fully occupied since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the state.
Posted — Updated"We have reached capacity a couple of weekends in a row. Most recently this past weekend we were able to reach 100 percent," Longleaf general manager Tim Rogers said.
Across the state, boutique hotels like Longleaf could be seeing an increase in business as leisure travel starts to increase as people are vaccinated for COVID-19.
Visit Raleigh estimates that leisure travel should be back on track by fall of this year.
A Travel Sentiment Survey from Longwoods International research firm is even more encouraging, finding that 81 percent of Americans plan to travel in the next six months. This is the highest level since the beginning of the pandemic a year ago.
Business travel across the country is expected to take longer to return to pre-pandemic levels. Visit Raleigh expects business travel to return by 2022.
Overall travel is not expected to return to 2019 levels until 2024, according to the report.
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