Hotels in Milwaukee County brought in $30.5 million in revenue during the week of the Republican National Convention, a $20 million increase, or about 200%, from the same week in 2023. Hotels also saw a 27% increase in occupancy for the week, according to information from
Visit Milwaukee, all of which was shared at a Common Council committee meeting on Monday.
Downtown Milwaukee hotels brought in $19.2 million of the $30.5 million in revenue to Milwaukee County hotels during the week of the RNC.
RevPAR (revenue per available room) for Milwaukee County over the week of the RNC was $320, up 193% year-over-year. RevPAR for downtown hotels that week was $435, up 227% year-over-year, according to the report from Visit Milwaukee.
Visit Milwaukee and the nonprofit-nonpartisan MKE 2024 Host Committee hired U.K.-based Oxford Economics to produce a full report on the convention’s economic impact.
Peggy Williams-Smith, president and CEO of Visit Milwaukee, said the report is expected to be finished by the end of this year.
“There were significant efforts made to make sure that the spend was throughout the city of Milwaukee,” said Williams-Smith.
But while hotels in the Milwaukee area saw a surge of business during the RNC, activity at other businesses was mixed with some getting a boost from the event while others, particularly downtown area restaurants, reported a significant decline in businesses.
Alderwomen Marina Dimitrijevic and Miele Coggs raised concerns from unnamed smaller businesses that reported a loss during the RNC when a surge of business was anticipated.
“When we considered supporting this, we were looking at the economic benefit beyond the downtown perimeter," said Dimitrijevic. “I realize the economic benefit trickles, but if it didn’t trickle into the neighborhoods, I want to be able to speak out about that.”
One business that missed out on an expected RNC windfall was
Immy’s African Cuisine, a restaurant at 2847 N. Oakland Ave. in Milwaukee, that originally was selected as a vendor at the RNC, but did not attend due to increased security measures after changes were made due to the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump days before the convention, according to Williams-Smith.
