Lollapalooza expected to deliver big weekend for Chicago hotels, even as international travel lags

Chicago Tribune

a day ago

Lollapalooza fans return to Grant Park this weekend, and the wave of visitors should keep most downtown hotel rooms and many restaurants filled, a much-needed boost at a time when overseas tourists seem increasingly reluctant to visit the U.S.
Chicago hotel operators say it's become one of downtown's most important events, and this year may be the biggest ever.
'The Lolla lineup determines overall success,' said Nabil Moubayed, general manager of the 792-room InterContinental at 505 N. Michigan Ave. 'This year's lineup is very strong, so we are seeing exceptional demand. It's exciting for us and the market.'
The lakefront music festival started Thursday at noon and over the next four days will feature headline acts such as Tyler, The Creator, Luke Combs, Olivia Rodrigo, Korn, Twice, Sabrina Carpenter and rapper A$AP Rocky. Chicago tourism officials have estimated past Lollapaloozas attracted roughly 100,000 people each day.
'We're booked up this week, all the way through,' said Will Rademacher, general manager of The Talbott, a 178-room, Gold Coast hotel at 20 E. Delaware Place. 'Our hotel is a little bit quieter than others downtown, so we tend to get the more mature guests for Lollapalooza. But we're definitely seeing much stronger demand this year than we did for Lolla in '22, '23 and '24.'
Hotel operators say it's already been a solid year and summer for Chicago. Worries about new and unpredictable immigration rules may have scared off some international travelers, but domestic tourists, especially from nearby Midwestern states, seem willing to make up for those losses.
And the lakefront's premier events, including Lollapalooza, the now-discontinued NASCAR Street Race and other concerts, such as Taylor Swift's three-day, Soldier Field extravaganza in 2023, the annual Sueños Music Festival and Beyoncé's sold out Cowboy Carter Tour in May, always provide jolts of energy.
'Lollapalooza is typically our busiest week of the year,' said Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association CEO Michael Jacobson. 'Some people jokingly say, why can't Taylor Swift come to Chicago every year? My response is, we have Lollapalooza every year, and we also have Beyoncé, who sells out the city.'
The city attracted more than 55 million visitors in 2024, a 6.5% jump over 2023, but still about 10% fewer than in 2019, when 61.5 million arrived, according to Choose Chicago, the city's official tourism agency. And in the first half of 2025, total hotel room demand for Chicago was 5.4 million room nights, up 2.9% from last year. Hotel room revenue through the end of June was $1.24 billion, a 5.6% boost over the first half of 2024.
'Additionally, last year's Lollapalooza weekend was a great one for Chicago hotels — hotel occupancy was over 95% each day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday,' said Isaac Reichman, a Choose Chicago spokesperson.
Advance bookings are down significantly this summer for downtown hotel rooms, but hotel operators don't seem worried.
'People wait until the last minute much more than they used to,' most likely due to 2025's economic uncertainty, said Rademacher. 'And it's not just because of tariffs, it's everything that's going on in the world right now.'
Room occupancy in the central business district hit 82.1% in June, up from 81.4% in June 2024, according to CoStar.
The steady upticks in occupancy, revenue and demand are all good signs for Chicago's hospitality industry, Jacobson said. But hotels still haven't equaled their pre-pandemic performance, and now face other headwinds.
'We're still awaiting the full return of business travel,' he said. 'And obviously, since we live in a different world than pre-COVID, there's a real question of whether it will ever fully return.'
Foreign tourists may also become scarce. The Trump administration tightened border controls earlier this year, leading some Canadian and European travelers to cancel U.S. trips.
'While other nations are rolling out the welcome mat, the U.S. government is putting up the 'closed' sign,' said World Travel & Tourism Council CEO Julia Simpson in May.
The council estimated early summer bookings by Canadians for the U.S. were down more than 20% year-over-year, with March visits from German travelers declining by 28%.
Rademacher said he has noticed the change.
'The summer is usually peak time for European travelers,' he said. 'This year, you don't see them as much when you're walking downtown.'
But overseas travelers are still a relatively small slice of Chicago's visitors, and hotel operators say they've successfully attracted more tourists from Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana.
'Ultimately, I think we still have seen strong demand from the domestic front, which has helped us stay on par with 2024 levels,' Moubayed said. 'We have seen a lot of tourists travel from the immediate tri-state area.'
And big events can still help Chicago hotels set records. Beyoncé's May concert series coincided with the National Restaurant Association Show at McCormick Place, said Jacobson, and more Chicago hotel rooms were sold that weekend than ever before.
'The people who benefit the most are hotel employees,' he said. 'Obviously, people will be working hard this weekend, but they will get to take home bigger paychecks because of events like Lollapalooza.'