DOWN BY 3%, ALIGNING WITH NATIONWIDE TREND
For the year, hotel occupancy rates in Platte County are running about two to three percent lower than last year, according to information obtained by The Landmark from the Platte County Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB).
Jennifer Goering, executive director for the Platte County CVB, supplied the numbers in response to a query from The Landmark.
Goering says Platte County’s lower number for hotel occupancy corresponds with a nationwide trend of a decrease in hotel occupancy rates compared to 2024.
There are several factors that are likely contributing to the decrease in Platte County, Goering noted. One of those is supply and demand.
“Several new hotels have opened in 2025 which affects the overall market,” she said.
Other circumstances coming into play for the decrease likely include economic factors, Goering mentioned factors such as “inflation, interest rates, consumer spending trends, all of which impact the leisure market.”
A reduction in government travel is another factor, she indicated.
Also, “corporate and convention travel have not returned to their pre-COVID levels and are not expected to. With the availability of virtual meetings, business travel remains lower,” Goering remarked.
“There’s no specific reason for the overall decrease in 2025. I think it’s a combination of factors.”
Goering explained that Platte County’s hotel occupancy varies month to month, with the summer months being higher due to tournament/youth sports and compression from larger events in downtown Kansas City.
There may be better news on the horizon for Platte County hotels. Next summer, the World Cup will be coming to Kansas City.
“It is going to be interesting to see if the projected number of visitors (650,000) for World Cup materializes for the Platte County hotel market,” she said.
Platte County’s hotel occupancy rates for the past few months have looked like this:
June: 72.6% compared to 77% in June of 2024.
July: 67.2% compared to 71.5% in July of 2024.
August: 62.7% compared to 67.2% in August of last year.
September: 64.6% compared to 67.6% in the same month of 2024.
Goering said the Platte County CVB subscribes to Smith Travel Research and gets weekly and monthly reports for the Platte County hotel market. The CVB then shares these reports with the hotels.
She said per the Smith Travel Research reports, Platte County is currently showing 40 reporting hotels with a total of 4,687 hotel rooms.
“The total number of hotels and hotel rooms can vary throughout the year. Currently, Quality Suites and Microtel Suites are closed. If a hotel is doing renovations, certain sections of the property can be closed and the number of available rooms reduced.
At this time last year, there were 41 reporting hotels with 4,462 total hotel rooms.
For comparison’s sake, Goering researched back seven years to November of 2018–at that time there were 38 hotels reporting with 4,378.
Goering said based on closures and renovations year to year, Platte County is consistently showing 38-40 reporting hotels with total rooms showing 4,400 to 4,700.
“The only new hotel construction currently occurring is the 134-room Hilton Garden Inn in Riverside, which will be adjacent to the KC Current (professional women’s soccer team) training facility. It is set to open in June of 2026,” she stated.
