Good news for Cape's hotels, restaurants

There's some good news regarding Cape Girardeau's hotel-motel and restaurant tax receipts.

A recent Southeast Missourian story by Nathan English reported the city's 2022 hotel-motel tax receipts exceeded $1 million, 13% more than the 2021 figure.

While part of the increase is due to inflation, that's not the entire story. John Echimovich, vice president of operations for MidAmerica Hotels, said the rate of rooms rented increased 5% to 6% year over year. So it's also an increase in occupancy that is helping drive the higher totals.

The city's restaurant tax receipts were also up 9% in 2022.

City leaders and hotel operators attribute much of the increased numbers to Cape Girardeau's growing sports tourism. The city's SportsPlex and other facilities are bringing visitors to town for tournaments nearly every weekend. It's a regional attraction, drawing teams from neighboring towns and even multiple states in the Midwest.

Of course, there are other tourism efforts. VisitCape is busy recruiting other non-sporting events to town. The state's Department of Tourism estimated Cape Girardeau County brought in $200 million in tourism during the 2021 fiscal year.

While this is certainly good news for the hotels and restaurants, it's also a positive for other aspects of our local economy. Tourism has been a bright spot for our community, particularly with some of the new facilities such as the SportsPlex. The increased events also add to the quality of life for those of us who call Southeast Missouri home.

Hats off to the local event organizers along with VisitCape for the work they do in putting a spotlight on this area and bringing visitors to town.