Chicago Hotel Taxes Tick Up

hotel-fotolia.jpg

CHICAGO - Chicago's hotel occupancy ticked upward last year providing the city with a record level of nearly $106 million in hotel tax revenues.

The city's hotels recorded more than 275,000 night stays over the previous year. Hotel room demand set a record of nearly 9.9 million rooms occupied, a gain of 2.3% over 2012 with total occupancy at 75.28%. That's slightly over 2012 and surpasses the previous record of 75.18% in 2007.

The average daily rate set a five-year high at $187.20 and generated a record $105.9 million in tax hotel revenue for the city. That's up 4.9% from the 2012.

"Chicago continues to attract more leisure visitors resulting in record hotel revenue for the city. We look forward to the year ahead as we continue to build momentum overseas and further position Chicago as the premier destination for U.S. travel," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement.

Hotel tax collections go to repay borrowing by several government issuers including the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority and the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority. The state backstops the MPEA bonds and city income taxes backstop the ISFA's Soldier Field bonds so both governments benefit from flush hotel tax collections.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Illinois
MORE FROM BOND BUYER