Year-end numbers are in and the news is good for Springfield’s hospitality industry.

Not only were occupied rooms up at Springfield hotels in 2013, the year ended as the second best since the Convention & Visitors Bureau began tracking occupied rooms in 1990.

In total, Springfield hotels reported 1,199,984 occupied rooms in 2013, second to 2007 when an ice storm increased occupancy to unprecedented numbers the first three months of the year and the year ended with 1,219,425 occupied rooms

Last year ended on a high note with September, October, November and December all being record months.

Occupancy in January will show a healthy increase compared to the same period last year and CVB president Tracy Kimberlin expects this positive trend to continue in 2014.

“This is particularly good news since we have gone through the deepest recession since the Great Depression,” Kimberlin said.

The CVB is a nonprofit organization dedicated to boosting the local economy by promoting travel and tourism to Springfield. Learn more at www.SpringfieldMo.org or call 417-881-5300 or 800-678-8767.