Chicago seeing fewer international travelers, but local hotels still expect ‘solid' summer

Chicago Tribune

a day ago

The number of international guests staying at Chicago hotels is down amid tensions between the Trump administration and other nations, and economic uncertainty is discouraging business travel.
But local hoteliers say they still expect a busy summer, thanks in part to a tourism calendar that relies heavily on domestic leisure travelers coming in for events like Lollapalooza and July's two-day NASCAR Chicago Street Race.
'It's true we're seeing a drop in foreign inbound travelers, but the drop is not significant,' said Maverick Hotels and Restaurants CEO Robert Habeeb, the proprietor of the 223-room Sable at Navy Pier. Government-related travel is also down after months of spending cuts by the administration of President Donald Trump, Habeeb said.
'But in the summer, it's leisure, leisure, leisure and most of these folks will show up. It's going to be a solid summer,' he said.
The decline in international travelers to Chicago is difficult to measure, as hotels generally don't report statistics on guests' country of origin, said Brian Arevalo, managing director with HVS, a consultant for the hospitality industry.
'But it has been noticed and it's something we're hearing a lot about from hotel operators,' he said.
Andrew Eck, general manager of L7 Chicago By LOTTE, a 191-room hotel at 225 N. Wabash Ave., said summer bookings from Canadians were off by about 25% compared with 2024. The number of Asian guests at the hotel, which carries a Seoul-based brand, seems steady, he said.
Overall, the summer is shaping up to be a busy one, Eck said. 'Because we were under construction for part of the year in 2024, we are seeing growth that's off the charts. We could sell out every single day this summer.'
It's already been a solid year.
Healthy attendance at some conventions held at the McCormick Convention Center, along with blockbuster events, including Beyoncé's three-night, sold-out 'Cowboy Carter' extravaganza in May at Soldier Field, kept Chicago hotels ahead of their 2024 pace.
About 1.3 million people are expected to attend McCormick Center events in 2025, according to the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, the municipal corporation also known as McPier, which owns McCormick Center. That's still far below pre-pandemic numbers, when the venue typically attracted between 2 million and 2.9 million visitors.
But some conventions are close to full recoveries, said McPier CEO Larita Clark. The International Manufacturing Technology Show attracted almost 90,000 visitors last year, compared with the more than 100,000 seen pre-COVID. In March, ProMat 2025, a manufacturing and supply chain convention, brought about 52,000 to McCormick Center.
'That show set a new attendance record,' Clark said.
Chicago hotel occupancy hit 65.6% in April, up from 64.6% last April, while the average daily rate for a room increased from $150.96 to $157.89, a 4.6% bump, according to CoStar data.
'We are ahead of where we were last year,' said Kiara Felfle, director of sales at The Robey Chicago, an 89-room boutique hotel in the Wicker Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side. 'Beyoncé's concerts were a record-breaking time for us as far as occupancy goes.'
The Robey Chicago, which opened in 2016 in the landmark Northwest Tower, anticipates a stream of customers this summer, many headed to the neighborhood's many street festivals and small music venues.
'Chicago really shines in the summer, so it's a big time for us, and this year will be no different,' she said.
The Trump administration tightened border controls and began imposing on-again, off-again tariffs on many nations this year, including Canada and China, souring relations and leading some 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 estimates international visitor spending in the U.S. will decline from $181 billion in 2024 to $169 billion this year, 22% lower than the peak year of 2019. Early summer bookings by Canadians were already down more than 20% year-over-year, with March visits from the United Kingdom falling 15%, and German travelers declining by 28%.
Chicago hotels should be able to absorb the hit.
The city attracted 55 million total visitors in 2024, according to Choose Chicago, the city's tourist agency. About 2 million were international travelers, so if the city sees fewer people from overseas this year, domestic tourists may fill the gap.
'Based on our monthly projections that are tracking 3-4% higher year-over-year, and with recent record-breaking weekends for hotel occupancy as well as several conferences that are setting records for attendance and room blocks, we are expecting a slight increase in our summer hotel occupancy over 2024,' Choose Chicago CEO Kristen Reynolds said in a statement.
Juan Leyva, general manager of the 452-room LondonHouse Chicago at 85 E. Wacker Drive, said the hotel will shift its summer marketing strategy, hopefully making up for any international losses by bringing more guests in from Indianapolis, Detroit and other domestic markets, especially for the Lollapalooza and NASCAR weekends.
'We are on a good pace for Lollapalooza, slightly ahead of last year,' Leyva said. 'Being a drive-in event, it doesn't really depend on international travel.'
Chicago's cold and rainy spring led many tourists to book rooms at the last minute and was probably a bigger concern than the decline in international travel, he said.
'We're finally getting summer, but it did take a long time,' he said. 'When all is said and done, we expect to be in line with last year, and maybe a little bit ahead.'