🔒Business travel’s ripple effect

Connecticut’s hospitality industry continues to feel the impact of the slow return of business travel.

“In ​2023, ​there ​were ​definitely ​more ​conferences. ​Attendance ​was ​better ​than ​2022,” said Ginny Kozlowski, executive director of the CT Lodging Association. “But we’re ​not ​completely ​back ​to ​where ​we ​were ​pre-pandemic.”

The association estimates that before the pandemic, business travel accounted for about 60% of hotel stays in the state, with leisure travel at 40%. “It’s flipped,” Kozlowski said, with leisure now accounting for 60% of hotel stays.

Because business stays are generally longer and involve just a single person per room, that also means the industry has had to restructure rates to remain profitable, Kozlowski said.