Hotel Surplus - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Hotel Surplus

Minot hotel occupancy is down --- and more hotels are slated to open in the spring.

Visit Minot director Wendy Howe says occupancy information is shared with developers before they begin construction.

She says the 'hotel boom' also could mean creating new venues in the Minot area to entice travelers.

Though occupancy numbers are lower --- that is often the case during the winter months.

(Wendy Howe, Visit Minot Director) "Occupancy has been down a little bit, obviously in December and January, but typically those are slow months anyway. When you add more inventory to the mix, that just means that there are probably more rooms available than there have been in the last year and a half. "

Howe says there is an advantage to that: rates are also much lower than they have been in recent months.

She says that the past couple of years have been difficult for Visit Minot to invite visitors, but now that affordability is back in the equation, Visit Minot is doing what they do best: working with convention groups to get them to return and extending the invitation to leisure travelers.

(Wendy Howe, Visit Minot Director) "We are really heavily pushing that availability. Not only around the state but into the Canadian markets as well, letting visitors know that Minot is ready for you. That goes with their tag line, 'we are ready for you,' and we absolutely are."

Hotel availability and rates are listed www.VisitMinot.org.