NASA's Artemis program is not only an exciting start to the next stage in space exploration, it also opens new opportunities for hotels along Florida’s Space Coast.
The Artemis 1 launch scheduled for today was scrubbed due to engine and fuel problems. The backup launch dates are Sept. 2 and 5.
The Artemis 1 is the first in NASA’s new Artemis program that will put humans back on the moon within the decade. The Artemis 1 launch's goal is to put an uncrewed Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft into orbit around the moon as a test flight for the program. It will launch from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B, where Apollo 10 launched in 1969, in Cape Canaveral.
The milestone launches from the space center in recent years have brought hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Space Coast each time, Meagan Happel, public relations manager and film commissioner for Florida’s Space Coast Office of Tourism, said via email Friday. More than 100,000 visitors were expected today, and possibly more than 200,000 for a rescheduled launch over Labor Day weekend.
Most hotels along the beach were sold out for the weekend, but as of Friday, there were still some rooms available in the mainland areas, she said.
In both 2020 and 2021, the Space Coast held the record for the most launches in the world, topping 30 each year, she said. As of July, the record’s already been beaten with about one launch per week by private companies such as SpaceX and United Launch Alliance.
“Visitors have a higher chance of being able to see a launch during their visit, even if that wasn’t their primary reason for their trip,” she said. “If a launch is scrubbed or canceled, it would be relatively easy for a tourist to come back again later in the year or next year to try again with how frequent the launches are. Sometimes we have multiple launches in a week. In fact, we recently had two launches in a single day.”
The Courtyard by Marriott Titusville — Kennedy Space Center hotel was still months away from opening when it was receiving calls from groups connected with the launch, said Wayne Soard, general manager of the hotel. When the hotel was still under construction, staff offered tours to groups to highlight accommodations and amenities.
Delaware North, the hotel's owner and operator, also operates the retail and food and beverage operations at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
The hotel is currently booked up, with most guests part of the group connected to the launch and the rest of the rooms filled with transient guests, he said. The group will be able to watch the launch from the hotel’s rooftop bar, the Space Bar, which has a direct view of the launch pad.
“We're the closest hotel to the launch pad, so that's what makes this hotel a little unique,” he said.
The hotel normally has occupancy in the upper-50% range during the week and can often sell out over the weekends, Soard said. It’s mostly business travelers during the week, but Port Canaveral brings in a lot of cruises on Fridays with transient guests arriving on Saturdays.
Tom Williamson, partner at Ocean Partners Associates and president of the Cocoa Beach Hotel Association, said Friday that his company's four hotels in the area are sold out. Demand came in from people involved in the launch once the date was announced while leisure guests started booking for the launch a few weeks ago, he said.
Lengths of stay will depend on whether the launch actually happens as planned, he said. If the Artemis 1 had launched as scheduled, room availability was expected to ease as guests checked out earlier in the week. Most launches don’t happen the day they’re originally planned, however, which could extend demand through the week.
“People involved with the launch are pretty savvy, and they book many nights past the launch in case it’s delayed,” he said.
The different launches from the space center draw in different levels of demand, Williamson said. The SpaceX launches with their Starlink satellites have become so common that they don’t attract spectators like the crewed launches do, he said. The Artemis 1 launch is different because NASA has marketed it so much, the rocket itself is bigger than the Saturn V rocket used during the Apollo missions, and the program involves going back to the moon.
“This has gotten a lot of attention,” he said. “I think NASA has done a good job of making everyone aware of this.”
The popularity of the Artemis 1 launch is so high that it’s creating hotel demand in areas that don’t typically book guests traveling for launches. Androse Bell, general manager of the Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach and regional director of operations at Hospitality Ventures Management Group, said in an interview Friday his hotel has booked several transient guests who are staying over the weekend with plans to drive down today to watch the launch. There are also several media groups planning to do the same.
“We're pretty much pretty much sold out,” he said. “It's so congested that it has created opportunity for us all the way up here in Daytona Beach.”
The demand started coming in a couple of weeks ago, but it’s picked up pace as the launch date neared, he said. That’s pretty typical, he added, as people are waiting to see if the weather will allow for a launch.
“I do expect another last-minute push once we get that accurate forecast,” he said.