Cleveland Hospitality Market Report

Post-pandemic hospitality sector strong despite momentary slowdown. Cleveland entered 2025 with occupancy just 20 basis points below 2019’s occupancy rate. With fewer events of the same scale as 2024’s historic lineup, there will be a slight occupancy drop this year, yet the metric will nonetheless remain 300 basis points above the metro’s long-term average. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport served over 10 million travelers last year for the first time since 2019 — up 3 percent from 2023. The metro welcomed visitors for a range of events, including the total solar eclipse and the NCAA women’s Final Four. Cleveland’s status as the third-highest trending destination on Tripadvisor and its inclusion on other travel recommendation lists may help sustain visitation to the metro in 2025. This momentum is bolstered by supply trends, as Cleveland’s construction pipeline is among the 10 smallest of all U.S. major metros. Deliveries over the last five years amounted to less than 30 percent of the 2015-2019 sum, steering room demand to existing inventory.