We've seen a year-over-year increase in hotel supply of more than 15 percent. This has some benefits, such as an indication of a strong market that stimulates new development interest and the presence of new brands to the market. But 15 percent is a significant amount of new supply to absorb. We have, however, had a very healthy increase in demand of 9 percent, but when you do the math, we will likely end up with a nearly 6 percent decline in year-over-year hotel occupancy.

In anticipation of the downturn, Meet Minneapolis has been proactive in developing new and expanded sales and marketing initiatives. This includes additional sales staff on the Meet Minneapolis and Sports Minneapolis teams, increased sales missions and sales calls, and a completely overhauled website (which you’ll see near year-end).

We had record participation today in an expanded hotel directors of sales meeting that included several of our hotels’ general managers. We not only shared the latest market intelligence but also provided an opportunity for those in attendance to collaborate real time on potential sales and marketing initiatives that our community can execute to help mitigate the downturn.

We appreciate the participation from our hotel partners and the ideas that came from the gathering today. Although the call is to "buckle your seatbelts" for the rough ride we will likely experience over the near term, we are fortunate to live and work in a hospitality community that is interested in finding solutions. Thanks to all our partner businesses, and please continue to provide us with your ideas and feedback.

We've seen a year-over-year increase in hotel supply of more than 15 percent. This has some benefits, such as an indication of a strong market that stimulates new development interest and the presence of new brands to the market. But 15 percent is a significant amount of new supply to absorb. We have, however, had a very healthy increase in demand of 9 percent, but when you do the math, we will likely end up with a nearly 6 percent decline in year-over-year hotel occupancy.

In anticipation of the downturn, Meet Minneapolis has been proactive in developing new and expanded sales and marketing initiatives. This includes additional sales staff on the Meet Minneapolis and Sports Minneapolis teams, increased sales missions and sales calls, and a completely overhauled website (which you’ll see near year-end).

We had record participation today in an expanded hotel directors of sales meeting that included several of our hotels’ general managers. We not only shared the latest market intelligence but also provided an opportunity for those in attendance to collaborate real time on potential sales and marketing initiatives that our community can execute to help mitigate the downturn.

We appreciate the participation from our hotel partners and the ideas that came from the gathering today. Although the call is to "buckle your seatbelts" for the rough ride we will likely experience over the near term, we are fortunate to live and work in a hospitality community that is interested in finding solutions. Thanks to all our partner businesses, and please continue to provide us with your ideas and feedback.