Uptown businesses will enjoy a Beyoncé boost

State of play: Thousands of fans will pack into Bank of America Stadium to see Beyoncé perform for the first time in Charlotte in a decade that night.

• The Aug. 9 show is part of her Renaissance World Tour, and it’s her only stop in the Carolinas.

What’s happening: If recent stadium concerts are any indication, businesses in Charlotte’s city center should enjoy a surge in demand when Queen B comes to Charlotte.

The JW Marriott, for instance, expects to be sold out the night of Beyoncé’s concert, Tom Dolan, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing, tells Axios. “[We] couldn’t be happier with all the concert and other event activity at BofA [Stadium] these past 24 months,” he said.

Why it matters: In the last few years, stadium concerts have been enormous boosts for Uptown businesses as they are still recovering from slow foot traffic stemming from the pandemic.

• Leisure travel — for everything from major concerts to high-profile college football games — is becoming an important driver for Uptown hotels at a time when business travel is still a bit slower than it was pre-pandemic, industry leaders have told me.

By the numbers: In Uptown, there was about a 40% lift in hotel occupancy and a 26% lift in rates on concert nights compared to the average hotel performance over the prior six months, according to the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority.

• On average, occupancy across the county increased by 15.5% and rates grew by 13.6% on evenings when Bank of America Stadium hosted those concerts.

• The two Luke Combs concerts (July 14 and 15) were in the top 20 for most hotel rooms sold in a single night in Mecklenburg County, per the CRVA. There were also two conventions in town over those dates.

What they’re saying: Merchant & Trade at the Kimpton in Uptown has seen “a boost with the large concerts” at Bank of America Stadium, says Chris Baliles, director of food and beverage at Tryon Park Hotel.

• “These events add to the energy in the city, so it is quite contagious. Even if people are not going to the show, we notice an uptick in guests throughout the day of the event as people are interested in the activity.”