Wake County Occupancy Rates See Significant Increase in March

Raleigh, NC -- In a report released today, the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau
announced a significant increase in Occupancy Rates for March.

In March, Wake County's hotels had an occupancy rate of 63.1 percent, a 10.6 percent increase over
March 2010. Year to date, occupancy increased 8.4 percent, and the average daily rate increased 2.5
percent. Wake County's figures are well above the 55.8 percent average for North Carolina and 61.4
percent average for the country for the same month. These figures were reported by Smith Travel
Research, an independent research company serving the hospitality industry.

These increases occurred even with the opening of eight new hotel properties, representing 937
rooms or nearly a 7 percent increase in Wake County hotel inventory.

The meeting, convention and sports markets are huge economic drivers for Wake County and in
March notable groups that held meetings or sports events in our area included:

  • NC TIES 2011 (NC Technology in Education Society) (March 2-4); Total Attendees: 1,000:
    Raleigh Convention Center
  • Mid Atlantic Power League (March 5-6): Total Attendees: 3,000: Raleigh Convention Center
  • NC Reading Association (March 13-16): Total Attendees: 1,400: Raleigh Convention Center
  • NC Association of Educators (March 16-19): Total Attendees: 2,000: Raleigh Convention
    Center
  • Tobacco Road Marathon (March 20): Total Participants: 1,500: Cary
  • Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. Southern Region Conference 2011 (March 24-27): Total
    Attendees: 1,500: Raleigh Convention Center