The omicron surge has put yet another strain on our industry, but your endless efforts and perseverance have keep our industry moving forward and future focused. As challenging as this time has been, though, we have plenty of good news to share and celebrate.
Our occupancy rates were higher than the national average throughout the holiday season, our sales team has been hard at work around the country encouraging meeting and event planners to come to our city, and travelers have even more opportunity to visit with new non-stop flights to Albuquerque.
We share all this and more in this issue of Industry Insider. Ray joins us from Fresno, Calif. We look forward to working with Ray in bringing world-class events to our city! This investment in marketing is necessary as Albuquerque competes against destinations that have much larger marketing budgets to attract leisure travelers, sports tourism along with meetings and conventions.
The ATMD will result in more visitors, higher occupancy levels at lodging properties, and greater economic prosperity for businesses in the hospitality industry and for our city as a whole. At its Jan. The group will present the District Plan at a public hearing on Tuesday, Feb. The City Clerk is in the process of notifying lodging properties located within the District boundaries about the public hearing.
Visit Albuquerque encourages you to learn more about the ATMD and the transformational effect it will have on tourism in our city.
