Charlotte Hospitality Market Report

New builds increase competition for existing hotels. Entering this year, hotel demand in Charlotte notably exceeded 2019 levels. Fully recovered pre-pandemic passenger volumes at the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, along with a collection of other factors, indicate this standing will continue over the near term. However, by the end of 2023, local room inventory will have grown by more than 12 percent over the past four years, resulting in significant additional ground to be made up before the metro can return to a pre-pandemic level of occupancy. The annual rate is projected to fall 600 basis points below the 2019 recording, amid the completion of roughly 1,300 new rooms this year. Nevertheless, tailwinds exist that may aid occupancy in select areas. Business travel, which has been a prominent draw for hotel bookings in the CBD, should remain steady this year as remote workers are called to main offices for mandatory meetings and traditionally office-using firms continue to hire from outside the metro. Furthermore, the full-fledged return of the Wells Fargo Championship — which brought in an estimated 40,000 attendees in 2019 — should generate demand for rooms near Quail Hollow.