Oklahoma’s Hotel Market: Where the Next Opportunities Are

U.S. hotel performance stalled in 2025. National RevPAR declined for the first time since 2020. Oklahoma’s visitor economy kept growing anyway: visitors spent a record $12.8 billion across the state last year, up 2.4% over 2024, and Oklahoma City alone welcomed a record 25 million visitors.

Oklahoma City has generated a 56% occupancy over the last twelve months, a welcome increase over the last two years. Room supply additions in the market are running below the national average. The Tulsa market currently has a twelve-month occupancy just under 57% with demand steadily rising over the year, exceeding modest supply increases.

For anyone considering a new hotel, the bigger story is the number of new demand generators arriving in Oklahoma over the next few years. These are the ones we see creating the clearest opportunities:

Major events in Oklahoma City. Construction on the Thunder’s new arena, a project of at least $900 million, is scheduled to start in 2026, with completion targeted for 2028. That same summer, Oklahoma City hosts the Olympic softball and canoe slalom competitions, the only LA28 events held outside California.

Convention growth in Tulsa. Tulsa reports it missed 32 events in its last fiscal year because it didn’t have enough hotel rooms or enough space under one roof. A 650-room convention center hotel is planned to open in 2029. Larger groups downtown will push overflow demand into surrounding hotels.

Data center construction in smaller markets. Google is investing $9 billion in Oklahoma, including a new campus in Stillwater and an expansion in Pryor, and has been confirmed as the operator of a 506-acre campus near Owasso. Projects like these bring years of construction crews, contractors and technicians, exactly the guests extended-stay hotels are built for, often into towns with little existing hotel supply.

Defense and aerospace at Tinker AFB. Tinker is the exclusive depot maintenance site for the Air Force’s new B-21 bomber, on top of a base workforce of nearly 27,000. That means steady weekday demand from government travelers and contractors for years to come.

Norman and SEC football. Since the University of Oklahoma joined the SEC in 2024, visiting-team ticket sales have doubled, and local hotel operators say Norman struggles to keep up with demand during athletic seasons. A planned entertainment district in Norman includes a hotel and conference center.

Resort and leisure travel. The Chickasaw Nation’s $400 million, 404-room OKANA resort opened in Oklahoma City in 2025, and this year’s Route 66 centennial put a national spotlight on Oklahoma’s 400-plus miles of the highway.

Repositioning older hotels. Buyers are acquiring and repositioning older Oklahoma City hotels. The former Crowne Plaza, for example, is being redeveloped into a 200-room dual-brand Hilton. Projects like this depend on knowing which brand and price point the market will actually support.

Each of these raises the same questions for a developer, investor or lender: Is there enough demand to support a new hotel here? At what rate? Under which brand? That is what our feasibility studies answer.

Source Strategies has analyzed hotel markets for 40 years. We prepare full feasibility studies and P&L projections for branded, dual-brand and independent hotels. Recent projects include:

• SpringHill Suites by Marriott Oklahoma City Midwest City/Del City
• Staybridge Suites Oklahoma City Dwtn – Bricktown by IHG
• Hyatt Place Oklahoma City / Bricktown
• Hilton Garden Inn Edmond / Oklahoma City North

If you have an Oklahoma site under consideration, or are weighing a new build, conversion or brand change, contact us to talk through the market.