As the pandemic hit in 2020, leisure and business travel screeched to a halt. Hotel occupancy fell to single digits in the typically packed summer tourism season and the lack of cruises in 2020 left a 900-million-dollar crater in the local economy. As Visit Seattle President & CEO Tom Norwalk explains during DSA's State of Downtown, the fundamentals remain in place for this city to reclaim its standing as a travel and meeting & convention magnet moving forward.
