Name: Can Tulsa's hotels handle an influx of Trump supporters?
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Can Tulsa's hotels handle an influx of Trump supporters?

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Dale Denwalt While claims of a million or more people signed up to attend President Donald Trump's rally at the BOK Center this weekend might be a heroic estimate, it's worth examining whether Tulsa could handle such an influx of visitors attending the event.There will be a crowd. Seating for the event is first come, first served, meaning any potential efforts by activists to sign up for rally tickets and not attend, in the hopes that the BOK Center will sit empty Saturday night, won't actually work.But if a million people tried to come, could they stay in Tulsa?Tulsa's metro has roughly 1 million residents, or about 1.2 million if you count those living in the Combined Statistical Area that includes surrounding counties.Not all those residents are supporters of the president.Tulsa and the surrounding counties are home to 276,000 registered Republicans, according to the most recent voter registration statistics. In fact, there are barely 1 million Republicans in all of Oklahoma.So if conservatives (or their political opponents) converge on northeastern Oklahoma in the numbers boasted, they'll need somewhere to stay. Tulsa has made strides in recent years by adding about 500 hotel rooms to its downtown area, according to local media reports. Unfortunately, the city doesn't quite have the capacity to accommodate them all.There are 2,211 hotel rooms in downtown Tulsa, according to the Tulsa Convention and Visitors Bureau. By packing four to a room, only 8,844 visitors would be lucky enough to avoid traffic after the event by walking to their hotels.Across the city, there are 120 hotels with capacity to hold another 52,372 people, and that's not taking into account existing corporate contracts that reserve long-term blocks of rooms. Still nowhere near 1 million.Many hotels are already booked, indicating the high demand for rooms Saturday night.The 55-room upscale Ambassador hotel in downtown Tulsa is without vacancy Saturday. Same goes for Tulsa Club Hotel (96 rooms) and Aloft Tulsa Downtown with its 180 guest rooms.There were rooms available at the Fairfield Inn, Courtyard Tulsa Downtown, DoubleTree, Hyatt Regency, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo and The Mayo as of midday Tuesday.Travelers might stand a good chance finding a place to stay with Airbnb; 98 private home and apartment owners have listings on the site available for use this weekend. Airbnb rentals range in size regarding the number of people capable of staying in one home or apartment. Sometimes private rooms are rented out by homeowners.And then there are campsites. There are several places inside or near the city where campers could find rest at little or no cost, usually in a parking lot or RV park. Capacity data about those locations are hard to come by, however.All told, if the claims of 1 million visitors prove true, it might be difficult to find lodging for anyone hoping to stay anywhere near the rally despite recent increases in lodging for Tulsa tourists.The recent expansion of Tulsa's accommodations is due in part to the city's growing image as a destination for both leisure visits and conferences. The art and music scene has become a niche all on its own, with classic venues and relatively new museums dedicated to folk icon Woody Guthrie and Oklahoma's pop culture history.In 2018, The Gathering Place and its 65 acres of riverside parkland opened to positive reviews. It continues to draw visitors from across the state and globe.Tulsa's own history, particularly the 1921 race massacre, has become more widely known because of books, documentaries and as a central plot in HBO's "Watchmen." The massacre occurred in the Greenwood District, also known then as Black Wall Street, which is less than a mile from where Trump is scheduled to speak Saturday.The president faced criticism when he first announced the rally would occur there on June 19, the same day as the Juneteenth holiday that celebrates the abolition of slavery in America. After the backlash, he moved the event to June 20.

Dale Denwalt While claims of a million or more people signed up to attend President Donald Trump's rally at the BOK Center this weekend might be a heroic estimate, it's worth examining whether Tulsa could handle such an influx of visitors attending the event.There will be a crowd. Seating for the event is first come, first served, meaning any potential efforts by activists to sign up for rally tickets and not attend, in the hopes that the BOK Center will sit empty Saturday night, won't actually work.But if a million people tried to come, could they stay in Tulsa?Tulsa's metro has roughly 1...

Can Tulsa's hotels handle an influx of Trump supporters?

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