Dive Brief:

• Zachry Hospitality, in partnership with Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corporation, will break ground this fall on a 200-room Curio Collection by Hilton hotel in San Antonio, HPARC announced earlier this week in a release obtained by Hotel Dive. 
• The 17-story hotel, to feature ground-floor retail, multiple restaurants, a rooftop bar and a garden with public art, is part of the approximately 100-acre mixed-use master planned Hemisfair District on the former site of the 1968 World’s Fair. Some 450 residential workforce housing units and 70,000 square feet of retail space will also soon be underway at the park, HPARC detailed. 
• The Curio Collection hotel follows other developments to break ground earlier this year in San Antonio, a city experiencing an influx of both business and leisure travelers. Investors have similarly taken note of the increasing travel demand and have scooped up major area resorts as a result.

Dive Insight:

The Curio Collection hotel, situated on 1.5 acres near the intersection of South Alamo and Market Streets, was initially approved for development in September 2022. The hotel was designed with a curved tower to give guests panoramic views overlooking the city’s River Walk. 

Upon opening in 2025, the hotel will be within walking distance of some of San Antonio’s major tourist attractions, including The Alamo, and business travel destinations like the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. 

The hotel will cater to an increased number of travelers visiting San Antonio. Last week, the city’s tourism bureau, Visit San Antonio, announced the city attracted 34.8 million visitors and generated an economic impact of $19 billion in 2022, both up approximately 10% year over year. 

Business travel to conferences, conventions and trade shows — up nationwide at the start of this year — has contributed to increased travel to San Antonio. In May, the city hosted the U.S. Travel Association’s IPW international trade show, which Visit San Antonio estimated will generate roughly $614 million in international visitor spending for the city over three years and drive 395,000 additional international visitors. 

Developers and investors alike are capitalizing on the city’s changing traveler climate. In June, IHG Hotels & Resorts broke ground on the 391-room InterContinental San Antonio hotel, located within blocks of the Curio Collection hotel at Hemisfair. The same month, Nashville-based Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. entered a definitive agreement to acquire the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa for $800 million.