As we near the summer travel season, tourism in the metro will be on the rise. According to industry projections for 2023, travel is expected to surpass 2022’s impressive performance thanks to vacation-starved people ready to take a trip. 

According to the U.S. Travel Association, even with inflation tightening budgets, travel will be on the increase. Nationally, domestic travel is expected to reach 104% of pre-pandemic levels. 

Locally, data from STR, a research company that tracks Douglas County hotel data for our organization, projects 59% of all of the hotel rooms in the county will be filled in 2023. That is a 1.6% increase over 2022. With more hotel rooms occupied, hotel revenue for the metro is expected to reach $258 million, a 3.9% increase over last year’s record-setting numbers. In 2022, Douglas County hotel revenue hit $248 million. During the months of March, April, June, July, August, and September, revenues reached the highest levels of each month’s history.

In 2023, Omaha has a busy calendar of events to draw travelers to the city. In April, the FEI Equestrian World Cup Finals will take center stage at CHI Health Center Omaha, followed by concerts ranging from Kane Brown to Thomas Rhett to Lizzo. The Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting in May will bring crowds of Warren Buffett followers to this annual event. In June, baseball fans will travel the road to Omaha for the Men’s NCAA College World Series, and Triple Crown’s SlumpBuster, the world’s largest youth baseball tournament.

Attractions opening this year including the Heartland of America Park and Lewis & Clark Landing at The RiverFront, the Kiewit Luminarium, and Steelhouse Omaha will also draw more tourists to 

the metro.  

The encouraging travel trends and the added entertainment development bodes well for a successful tourism year, which means more economic growth for our community.