Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks at a news conference on April 1, 2025. [Don Vincent/The Daily Line]

The mayor and leaders from the city’s economic development, aviation and tourism arms took a victory lap Tuesday following a record-breaking number of Lollapalooza attendees last weekend. During a news conference, Mayor Brandon Johnson and other officials touted recent gains the city had seen in hotel stays, airport traffic and interest in booking large events over the next decade or so.

The mayor said Lollapalooza saw upwards of 115,000 attendees each day of the festival — though final numbers are still undetermined — and maintained a small number of arrests. 

Kristen Reynolds, the CEO of Choose Chicago, said the city has bucked tourism industry trends. 

“The tourism industry globally has faced many economic and social challenges in 2025,” Reynolds said. “However, thanks to an aggressive and strategic growth approach to prioritize and invest in our tourism industry, Chicago is continuing to grow, both in tourism demand and spending.” 

Reynolds said the amount of revenue per available room is up about 5.4 percent year-to-date, and while tourism from Mexico and Canada to the city is down this year, she said international visitation to the city is up overall. 

Through June of this year, Reynolds presented figures that showed hotel demand was up 2.9 percent from last year, and hotel revenue was up 5.6 percent, with about $1.24 billion in revenue reported through June. 

In 2024, Reynolds said hotel tax revenue in the city increased by $18 million for a $157 million total. This year, the CEO said the city is on pace to beat that total. 

Reynolds stressed that continued investment in the city’s tourism and visitor economy is crucial to the city’s overall growth. 

“We are booking conventions and events currently through 2040,” Reynolds said. “So, what we do today definitely has implications on our city's success for years to come. And we all know that business attraction and relocation — it all starts with a visit.”

In line with the rise in hotel stays and visits, the city’s airports are seeing increased demand, especially at O’Hare International Airport. 

Aviation Comm. Michael McMurray highlighted record-breaking air travel numbers. Airlines at O’Hare and Midway airports booked 17.8 million departing seats between June and August, representing not just a 7 percent increase over last year but a 4 percent hike compared to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“It's clear that travel to and from the city is not just back, but it's booming,” McMurray said. 

American and United airlines announced expansions in service at O’Hare earlier this year to respond to demand, the aviation commissioner said, and on July 20, O’Hare recorded a record number of passenger screenings — over 115,000. McMurray said seven of the 10 busiest days ever at O’Hare were recorded this summer. 

Additionally, through June 30 this year, McMurray said O’Hare saw a 10.4 percent increase in takeoffs and landings at the airport compared to last year. The aviation commissioner said that even puts O’Hare slightly above reported activity at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which typically claims the title for busiest in the world. 

The mayor said both of these indicators are positive signs for the city’s finances, which face extraordinary challenges ahead of the upcoming budget season. 

“It's the revenue that we generate from these large events and visitors who come here that help fund our critical services,” Johnson said.

Johnson has floated balancing the upcoming city budget using some higher taxes on corporations and the rich. When asked if his administration was considering tapping into any new revenue sources among the gains that have been seen in the tourism and visitation sector as his administration figures out ways to balance the upcoming budget, he reiterated his desire to make the rich “put more skin in the game.”  

“It turns out you can be pro-worker and pro-business. [These gains] are proof-positive of that, and so I just want to just dismantle this notion that somehow our city is hostile or inimical towards the interests of the business community,” Johnson said. “What I've always said is that we are open for business, but we're just not for sale, and we have to do everything in our power to ensure that the workforce grows. That's how our economy grows.”