SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – More people are spending a night in a Springfield hotel room.

City Tourism Director Scott Dahl says that’s based on data from last year — not even numbers for all the special activities like this year.

“City-wide hotel occupancy was at 57 percent, compared to 54 percent in 2024,” said Dahl.  “That means hotel stays are up about 12,000 room nights.  We have more travelers in town visiting Springfield.”

Dahl says people from 75 different countries visited Springfield last year. And a number of those were people who visited in the last fiscal year for things like the World Cup, then drove their way down to Springfield from Chicago.

Dahl tells the WTAX Morning Newswatch the goal is still to get to 60 percent occupancy, and he believes things like sports tourism and when and if the BOS Center is able to expand will help make that happen.”

“We actually had lapel pins made in 2018 that said, ‘Get the city to 60’ — and they have a 60 percent lapel pin. And that’s our target,” said Dahl.  “I believe, now that we’ve secured the BOS Center expansion, or the county has, and that we have sports tourism, we will exceed 60 percent in the next few years.  And, we may even reach the mid-60-percent, as we really ramp up the sports tourism, and we continue to see that leisure travel grow.”

Dahl says while it wasn’t yet the 100th anniversary of Route 66 in 2025 just yet, many tourist visits can be credited to that, along with several large conventions being in town, and other things.  He says the city is on track to be higher than 2025 this year in terms of hotel stays, because of the Scheel’s Sports Park, Route 66, the Women’s Professional Baseball League, and other activities.

Springfield has roughly 8,000 hotel rooms available, even without the downtown Wyndham, said Dahl.  He says the uptick is remarkable knowing that the Wyndham wasn’t available most of last year.

The data on hotel stays, according to Dahl, comes from the State of Illinois, which reports that data annually for the prior year.