The 1,054-room Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport enhances Boston’s capacity to host large-scale meetings. The Seaport District property includes nearly 3,000 square feet of outdoor event space. Photo courtesy of Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport
May ushers in warmer weather: Patios reopen, trees are in bloom and the height of the tourist season begins in Massachusetts. There are many compelling reasons to visit Greater Boston as it bustles with dozens of commencements, postseason games at TD Garden, baseball back in the Fens, big events returning to Boston and the U.S. Open teeing off in Brookline on June 16.
The timing is good. A recent Bankrate survey found that six in 10 Americans are planning at least one summer trip despite higher gas prices. Of those who are planning vacations, 35 percent expect to travel more this summer than they did in 2021. Additionally, a recent survey by the U.S. Travel Association revealed that 84 percent of business travelers expect to take at least one trip to attend conferences, conventions or trade shows in the next six months.
The return of vacation-related travel and in-person meetings and events is essential following two years of uncertainty. We understand the road to recovery ahead of us, and it is more important than ever for tourism and hospitality partners to rally around both leisure travel and business travel with in-person meetings and events.
Businesses in Massachusetts can make a huge impact on the latter by contributing to our local economy and scheduling their conventions and conferences in the Boston area, instead of taking those meetings outside the region. This will set an example for other global companies to come see all that Boston has to offer. The return of business travel is critical to a full tourism recovery, particularly during need periods, and the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau is spearheading several initiatives to incentivize planners to book Boston.
New Hotels and Renovations Await Arrivals
Boston is ready with open arms to welcome guests, including fantastic new additions to our hotel landscape. Canopy by Hilton Boston Downtown – which is tucked between downtown and Rose Kennedy Greenway – opened its doors this spring just steps away from Faneuil Hall, the Freedom Trail, the historic North End and TD Garden. Across from the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport opened in September, adding 1,054 rooms to our inventory and enhancing Boston’s capacity to host large, premium events.
Martha Sheridan
The development continues with Raffles Boston Back Bay, a 147-room five-star hotel set to open by early 2023. The property’s 2-story sky lobby is perched above Copley Square with five food and beverage venues, a state-of-the art Raffles Spa with a 20-meter indoor pool, a rooftop garden terrace and lounge and expansive meeting and function space – a prime location for businesses to host events.
These openings, coupled with exquisite restoration and renovation projects such as The Langham, Boston and The Newbury, have fundamentally repositioned Boston’s place in luxury market appeal and our ability to host marquee events.
And it is more than hotels and our “traditional” attractions that will continue to improve the tourism and business travel outlook for 2022. In April, the city of Boston – in collaboration with the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau – launched the second phase of “All Inclusive Boston,” an equitable recovery initiative designed to make Boston more appealing to a broader, more diverse audience. The campaign highlights the vibrant and cross-cultural events and neighborhoods across our historic city while promoting the hotels, restaurants and experiences that make Boston the perfect place to visit or do business. We hope more and more leisure travelers and businesses – local, national and global alike – will come to see all that we have to offer this year.
Martha J. Sheridan is president and CEO of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau.
