New figures show a major bounce back for downtown Minneapolis in June, with a record $42.3 million in guest revenue at area hotels. And those figures, which were released Wednesday, didn’t include Sunday, June 30, the final night of the U.S. Gymnastics Trials at Target Center.
The last time revenue reached these levels, according to Meet Minneapolis, was in 2018. That's more than a year before the pandemic drove those numbers down. That was also before the violent reaction to the police killing of George Floyd.
"This narrative about it not being safe downtown just hasn't held up," says Minneapolis Downtown Council President Adam Duininck. "And that by having these activations and events that we are so successful in hosting, helps to keep the community thriving and much more safe."
Duininck says the challenge now is to keep attracting high-profile events that would draw more people to downtown Minneapolis, which would support both the retail and hospitality industries.
With events like the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials and June's Pride celebration, hotels really packed people in. The weekly revenue for the last week of June was over $11 million, the highest weekly total since Taylor Swift took over the city for her shows at U.S. Bank Stadium.
"It means things like that are that much more important for cities of vibrancy and economic vitality," Duininck said. "And I think we just need to continue to spend our energy, and really lean into being that kind of city with that kind of reputation for all these events."
It went beyond just hotels. Restaurants and other local businesses saw a major increase. Then, July began with Minneapolis hosting the Taste of Minnesota over the weekend following July 4th with crowds of around 125,000 coming downtown over the two days.
"Hopefully, when Minneapolis pulls off a great summer, has all this economic activity, has the foot traffic, it supports retail hospitality and continues to allow the businesses that are doing well to grow here," Duininck explains.
Organizers of the Taste of Minnesota noted that the weekend went off without any safety issues to speak of.
"Checked in with Minneapolis Police throughout the event and they were smiling and laughing," says Taste of Minnesota ambassador Teke O'Reilly. "They were giving me very candid reports and they said this is one of the most well-behaved crowds they've ever had and things were very relaxed. We have no reported incidents whatsoever."
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