New York City is seeing a meaningful comeback for the beleaguered hotel industry.
Weekly hotel demand last week rose to its highest level since the start of the pandemic.
There were 481,284 room nights sold for the week of July 12, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.
That represents an increase of 17,000 room nights on the previous week.
"This is incredible progress. We are well on our way to reaching the goals that we had, and then exceeding them, because people are coming back to New York City," de Blasio said.
It is edging closer to exceeding its weekly goal of half a million hotel room nights, he said.
Still, there is a long way to go, analysts say.
A CBRE report earlier this year projected a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels for New York’s hotel industry in 2025.
About 100 hotels still remain closed.
The city became the first epicenter of the pandemic in March 2020, and de Blasio urges Americans considering a trip to make sure they are fully vaccinated.
The city recently launched a $30 million marketing campaign to increase tourism.
