Sales Goals & Results 2021

Above: Jonathan Ringo, Visit Lake Charles Board of Directors, Past-Chair World LNG & Gas Series Americas Summit

■ GOAL: Build booked meetings and convention numbers back to 50% of 2019 room nights by the end of calendar year 2021.

RESULT: 2019 resulted in 84 meetings and conventions which included 26,322 total room nights while 2021 yielded 40 meetings and conventions that brought in 5,297 total room nights. While Visit Lake Charles was only 2 meetings and conventions short of meeting this goal, room nights were significantly lower due to smaller meeting and convention sizes. This trend was felt not just in Southwest Louisiana but in the nation as many meetings and conventions were limited to a specific number of attendees due to COVID restrictions. Travel restrictions were also a factor.

Booked 81 meetings, conventions and sporting events that utilized 28,607 ROOM NIGHTS at area hotels

■ GOAL: Increase the average daily rate (ADR) in Calcasieu Parish by 0.5% at year-end over the 2019 ADR numbers.

RESULT: In 2019, the average daily rate (ADR) was $84. 2021 saw tremendous growth as the ADR increased by 35% to $113. This increase was largely due to the rule of supply and demand, with nearly 25% of the hotel inventory offline in 2021 resulting from Hurricanes Laura and Delta. As rebuilding continues, the transition is being made to leisure travelers that are flocking to Southwest Louisiana with pent-up demand as a driver.

Rendezvous South, a conference of meeting planners that can bring future business to SWLA, was held in May.

■ GOAL: Grow the SWLA Hotel Community Facebook Page to 150 active members by the end of the year.

RESULT: With many of the hotel partners across Southwest Louisiana recovering from storm damage and the staffing shortage which has impacted the hospitality community across the board, this goal was not met.

World LNG & Gas Series Americas Summit

■ GOAL: Rebuild booked group business nights from the social, military, education, religious and fraternal (SMERF) market segment by year end to 50% of 2019 room nights.

RESULT: Unfortunately, the SMERF market has been one of the slowest markets to rebound post-COVID. Things that have factored into that trend have been the travel regulations at Fort Polk; Mardi Gras was canceled in 2021, so there were no krewe events and celebrations, and many of these types of groups were still hesitant to plan last year. 2022 has already shown a great deal of improvement in this market.

■ GOAL: Achieve a 15% increase in the total room nights booked from 2020 in the Sports Tourism market segment by the close of 2021.

RESULT: In 2021, Visit Lake Charles hosted 41 sporting events generating 23,310 total room nights. Only 25 events were held in 2020 utilizing 18,116 room nights, so an increase in room nights of 29% well exceeded the goal of 15%.