The summer months in Minneapolis are traditionally the busiest of the year in terms of attracting visitors. The convergence of strong leisure travel, business travel and conventions have propelled us to summer month hotel occupancy records over the last two years.

Many national industry insiders and prognosticators are predicting a strong summer travel season. That is indeed good news for our local industry after two consecutive record hotel occupancy years here in Minneapolis and seeing our 2016 YTD occupancies lag slightly behind last year.

The experts tell us that factors such as strong consumer confidence, increasing international travel and low gas prices are the main reasons for the 2016 summer optimism.

The Conference Board has tracked the Consumer Confidence Index® since 1977. Consumer Confidence, not surprisingly, has closely followed the ups and downs of our economy in and out of recessions. While the level dipped slightly in April, it remains at 94.2 out of an index value of 100 (ask Kevin Hanstad if you really want to go deeper in to those numbers.) To put that in perspective, Consumer Confidence had dipped into the 20s during our 2008-2010 economic downturn.

Our additional seasonal international flights from Iceland and France, Italy and Amsterdam into MSP International Airport are also reasons to be optimistic about the summer. These increased capacities will mean that many more international visitors will be exploring our City by Nature.

And as fuel prices go, Minneapolis’ current average price for regular unleaded is about $2.11 per gallon compared to a national average of about $2.26 per gallon. With 45% of visitors to Minneapolis coming from Minnesota and a full three-fourths of visitors from the five-state region, we should certainly have strong leisure travel this summer.

The numerous summer events utilizing U.S. Bank Stadium, along with a full slate of Twins games and games from our WNBA champs, the Minnesota Lynx, an active live theater scene, and outdoor activities like Mississippi River cruises and kayaking, should also cause us see a very busy summer.

We reported last week that an annual study conducted by D.K. Shifflet shows that both the number of visitors and visitor spending increased yet again in 2015. The Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area was visited by 31.6 million in 2015, an all-time record. I am optimistic that this summer will ensure that the 2016 numbers will again show an increase in visitors.

The summer months in Minneapolis are traditionally the busiest of the year in terms of attracting visitors. The convergence of strong leisure travel, business travel and conventions have propelled us to summer month hotel occupancy records over the last two years.

Many national industry insiders and prognosticators are predicting a strong summer travel season. That is indeed good news for our local industry after two consecutive record hotel occupancy years here in Minneapolis and seeing our 2016 YTD occupancies lag slightly behind last year.

The experts tell us that factors such as strong consumer confidence, increasing international travel and low gas prices are the main reasons for the 2016 summer optimism.

The Conference Board has tracked the Consumer Confidence Index® since 1977. Consumer Confidence, not surprisingly, has closely followed the ups and downs of our economy in and out of recessions. While the level dipped slightly in April, it remains at 94.2 out of an index value of 100 (ask Kevin Hanstad if you really want to go deeper in to those numbers.) To put that in perspective, Consumer Confidence had dipped into the 20s during our 2008-2010 economic downturn.

Our additional seasonal international flights from Iceland and France, Italy and Amsterdam into MSP International Airport are also reasons to be optimistic about the summer. These increased capacities will mean that many more international visitors will be exploring our City by Nature.

And as fuel prices go, Minneapolis’ current average price for regular unleaded is about $2.11 per gallon compared to a national average of about $2.26 per gallon. With 45% of visitors to Minneapolis coming from Minnesota and a full three-fourths of visitors from the five-state region, we should certainly have strong leisure travel this summer.

The numerous summer events utilizing U.S. Bank Stadium, along with a full slate of Twins games and games from our WNBA champs, the Minnesota Lynx, an active live theater scene, and outdoor activities like Mississippi River cruises and kayaking, should also cause us see a very busy summer.

We reported last week that an annual study conducted by D.K. Shifflet shows that both the number of visitors and visitor spending increased yet again in 2015. The Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area was visited by 31.6 million in 2015, an all-time record. I am optimistic that this summer will ensure that the 2016 numbers will again show an increase in visitors.