Casino hotel groundbreaking shows business growth in Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The Columbus area is celebrating yet another growth milestone for the community with Tuesday’s groundbreaking of Hollywood Casino’s $100 million hotel investment on the west side.
The construction comes as Experience Columbus is celebrating yet another strong year for tourism with a 40 percent increase in events this year.
Officials said the new hotel will be another place to host those events and bring more business to the west side.
“Our brightest days are in front of us,” said Rick Skinner, the vice president and general manager of Hollywood Casino Columbus.
Skinner said the new hotel will bring hundreds of construction jobs as well as around 100 permanent jobs to the community.
“What we're able to do with the community and the reinvestment back in the community, $100 million back into Columbus, into the west side. You know, I've often said a rising tide floats all boats," Skinner said.
He said the new hotel will be attached to the existing Hollywood Casino on the Westside with more than 100 rooms and a new restaurant called “The Hill” named after the local community.
“I think the west side has been in need of better lodging, and this also expands our footprint to help us be more of a regional destination,” Skinner said.
The hotel will also include meeting spaces. While this hotel is slightly outside of the downtown area, it will be another place to draw in companies to host events.
According to Experience Columbus, meetings and conventions have been a big money-maker in 2023.
“Experience Columbus and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission are seeing big growth numbers from last year,” said Linda Logan, the president and CEO of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission.
Experience Columbus released its third-quarter numbers this week. The organization said from the start of this year through September, there have been 40 percent more events hosted in Columbus than last year. This results in around $14 million in direct visitor spending from conventions, trade shows, and sporting events.
Logan said the Greater Columbus Sports Commission is the sister company to Experience Columbus. She said they are on pace to have a successful fourth quarter and even more is coming in 2024.
“2024, at least, I know on the sports side, is going to be our biggest year ever in our 22-year history,” Logan said. “Excited to say that we're hosting or kicking off the year with the U.S. figure skating championships. They've never been in Columbus before at Nationwide Arena. So, a premier event seeing the best and the brightest of that's forward of January. The MLS All-Star game is going to be in Columbus later this summer. So, a lot happening, a lot to look forward to.”
The Experience Columbus report also said there was a 14 percent increase in bed tax collections over last year.
The casino hotel is expected to be finished in the second half of 2025.