Hurricane Irma evacuees flocked to Atlanta-area hotels, as well as those in other parts of the Southeast, new data shows.
The report, from travel research company STR, shows occupancy at Atlanta hotels was up 30 percent from last Wednesday through Saturday over the same period in 2016.
At the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, general manager Peter McMahon said his hotel picked up an “enormous” amount of business. It resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in incremental income, he said.
"Everybody benefited and really rolled out the red carpet," McMahon said.
At the same time, the number of rooms booked in cities including Miami, West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale fell.
Evacuees began coming to metro Atlanta last Wednesday and have been leaving in recent days, said Mark Vaughan, executive vice president and chief sales officer of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. He said the timing was good: if the hurricane had driven people from their homes over Labor Day weekend, the city would not have had enough hotel rooms to accommodate the need.
But last week, DragonCon and other events had left hotel rooms with space to fill.
“What it allowed us to do was welcome them and help them at their time of need,” Vaughan said. “If it had been the week before, it would have been tough for anyone to evacuate to Atlanta.”
In addition to a 30 percent increase here, the Macon/Warner Robins area saw an 82 percent increase in occupied hotel rooms. Chattanooga’s occupancy rate was up 40 percent, Birmingham’s was up 36 percent and Augusta’s was up 36 percent, as well.
Orlando saw a 15 percent increase.
On the flip side, year-over-year occupancy was down 39 percent in Melbourne/Titusville, Fla.; 38 percent in the Miami area; 24 percent in West Palm Beach and Boca Raton, Fla.; and 18 percent in Fort Lauderdale. Fort Myers had a 4 percent decrease.
Nick Minerd, a spokesman with STR, said he expected occupancy in those areas to increase as people returned home to houses they could not live in and relief workers flocked to the area.
“There are so many displaced residents and relief workers,” he said. “It’s safe to assume there’s going to be more hotels needed.”
The increase in occupancy also translated into higher prices: The average daily rate in Atlanta of $111.92 was 18 percent higher than for the same period last year.
Vaughan said the evacuees were different than the normal convention traffic, with many people coming to Atlanta with pets and plenty of belongings. Hotels that have pet policies often looked the other way, he said.
McMahon said he had more than 200 dogs, cats and birds in a hotel that usually doesn’t allow pets. The Hyatt Regency created an indoor pet relief area, as well as a play area for children.
“It’s the first time we’ve had this type of evacuation,” he said. “It was important we made them feel welcome.”
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