OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — AirVenture 2023 set records for the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), which says the event drew about 677,000 people, the most in show history and roughly 10 times the population of Oshkosh.
Although AirVenture just wrapped up on Sunday, many visitors are already making plans to attend in 2024 and local hotels are already beginning to fill.
Alicia Caldwell is the Front Office Manager for the Holiday Inn Express in Oshkosh. She says the hotel already has "at least 30" reservation requests from individuals. That number doesn't count the corporate groups that often reserve well in advance though and book rooms on a rotating basis, allowing the 70-room property to fit a lot more groups in.
“From Sunday to Sunday week of [this year's] event, we had roughly 490 rooms that equated out to 525 guests that revolved through here," Caldwell explained.
Since those corporate groups usually book well in advance, Caldwell urges guests to "get your bookings in right now" to ensure a room for AirVenture 2024.
Amy Albright is the Executive Director of Discover Oshkosh (Oshkosh's tourism bureau). She describes AirVenture as "our Super Bowl," and says local businesses saw "two and three and four times the business they would in a normal week" during its run.
Albright says some hotels have already told her they're almost, if not completely, sold out for next year, and says she's already seeing the excitement build, almost a full year in advance.
“If you follow social media at all on the EAA groups," said Albright, "people are already counting down the days until next year."
