CWS 2023: Omaha hotel bookings up from last year

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - As the College World Series festivities slowly come together, city streets are starting to fill up with visitors.

And it’s keeping hotels in the Omaha-metro full.

“The whole month of June has been really really busy,” Hotel Indigo Director Dan Koziol said.

The new hotel is in the heart of downtown. Koziol told 6 News with all the events going on in the city they’re checking in a lot of people every day.

“I will tell you travel has just ramped up we’re busier than we’ve been in 2022 and we expect that pattern to continue into 2023, and 2024,” Koziol said.

We checked to see how many hotel rooms have been added in the metro since before the pandemic:

In 2019, 15,246 hotel rooms have been added. This year, it’s now 15,446. That’s a 1.4% increase in just four years.

“It’s hard to identify who exactly are our fans and who are just leisure in general, but excitement is starting to build,” Darby said.

CWS 2023 COVERAGE

College World Series coverage

From schedules and preparations to city attractions to food and Fan Fest — and yes, the games! Find all of our CWS 2023 coverage right here.

Magnolia Hotel has also felt the rush of newcomers. General Manager Tim Darby said they’re close to being fully booked.

“The world series is kind of one of those unique events that you’re very busy and reservations are very busy,” Darby said. “As teams qualify we’ll start seeing reservations come in.”

However, both Koziol and Darby think this foot traffic is a change from two years ago when COVID-19 halted all travel.

Now, a busy few weeks is a win for hotels and for Omaha.

“At the end of the day, it’s important to make sure Omaha is a city that’s on the map,” Koziol said.

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