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Economy

QC Hotels Stay Open Despite the Pandemic

Radisson Hotel

Even though travel has suffered during the pandemic, hotels and motels in the Quad Cities have not been empty. 

Dave Herrell, President and CEO of Visit Quad Cities, says before COVID-19 the occupancy rate here for hotels and motels was between 50 and 60 per cent. Since March it's been much lower but still at nearly 29 per cent (28.6).

"We're hearing a lot of destinations that are in the single digits, and so the fact that we still do have some folks that are using the hotels here is a good sign."
He says overnight guests have included government workers at the Arsenal, construction workers for the new I-74 bridge, and Exelon employees maintaining and re-fueling the Cordova nuclear plant. 

Herrell says visitors should feel safe staying in local hotels and motels because it's a highly regulated industry. 

 "They've already got a level of standard and care that is existing but now they're having to amplify that so they can put their guests into a position where they're safe and feel like they're in a good environment."

He expects leisure and business travel will begin to rebound, but slowly.

The hospitality industry accounts for an estimated 8,200 jobs in the Quad Cities, with most of these people working in hotels and motels. 

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.