Against an easy comparable from last year’s presidential election week, U.S. hotel revenue per available room rose 6.2% for the week of Nov. 2-8. The gain was fairly balanced with a 1.5-percentage-point increase in occupancy and a 3.6% rise in average daily rate.
Room demand during the week increased by more than 813,000 room nights sold versus a year ago. While it’s easy to dismiss the increase due to the easy election week comparison, it should be noted that compared to the same week in 2023, hotel demand was up by 50,000 room nights. That means this was a good week despite the government shutdown and its impact on air travel.
The largest RevPAR gains were seen on Monday, Nov. 3, and Tuesday, Nov. 4 – Election Day – when RevPAR advanced by more than 17% each day. Wednesday, Nov. 5, also saw strong growth (+9.3%) with more subdued increases on Sunday, Nov. 2 (+0.7%), and Thursday, Nov. 6 (+1.5%).
The weekend was more typical and like what U.S. hoteliers have seen in the past three weeks as RevPAR fell 0.6% on declining occupancy and no ADR growth. The largest decrease was seen on Saturday, Nov. 8, when RevPAR fell 1.3%
Limited impact from government shutdown
Based on the 39 days of available hotel data (Oct. 1 to Nov. 8), room demand during the U.S. government shutdown was down a total of 1.5 million room nights. In the 39 days prior to the government shutdown, demand was down 1.4 million room nights, which is like the loss seen since the government shutdown began. Weekly data showed the same result. Moreover, TSA screenings during the 39 days ending Nov. 8 were up 2.6%. On a weekly basis, screenings were up each week, except for the most recent, which was basically flat (-0.4%).
A closer look at Washington, D.C., hotels – ignoring this week’s data due to the easy comps – reveals that room demand for the four weeks ending Nov. 1 was down an average of 34,000 room nights per week versus down 28,000 in the four weeks ending Oct. 4. Since the week ending Aug. 2 and through Nov. 1, D.C. hotels have averaged a weekly room demand decline of 23,000 room nights.
Therefore, the impact of the government shutdown on national hotel demand and travel overall was limited and only slightly more impactful in the nation’s capital.
Top 25 markets up the most
In the most recent week, the top 25 U.S. hotel markets saw RevPAR advance 9.6% on nearly equal gains in hotel occupancy and ADR. San Francisco and Washington, D.C., each saw RevPAR advance 43%. Even though room demand in both markets was up by double figures, the measure was at a slight deficit – down about 1,700 room nights – to the level seen two years ago.
All but six top hotel markets reported RevPAR growth with many seeing double-digit increases. Tampa, a 2024 hurricane market, had the largest decrease among the top 25 markets (-24.1%) followed by Las Vegas (-8.9%). Overall, the room demand gain in the top 25 markets surpassed the loss seen in 2024, although the surplus was small – about 4,000 more room nights sold.
RevPAR in markets outside the top 25 rose 3.1%, but these markets also saw less of a loss a year ago. Madison, Wisconsin, led the nation in hotel RevPAR growth, up 90% for the week. Over the weekend, the market saw RevPAR surge 155%. The next closest market was Iowa Area, where weekly hotel RevPAR increased by 34.5% on a weekend gain of 62.8%. Both markets benefited from college football games. Alabama North, Birmingham, Alabama, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, also saw weekend growth of more than 65%.
Hurricane markets from 2024 continued to be a drag with RevPAR down 13.5% for the week, reducing the national hotel RevPAR gain by 110 basis points, meaning RevPAR was up 7.3% without those markets. Nearly all of the 13 markets identified last year saw double-digit RevPAR decreases on falling occupancy.
Groups drive top 25 markets
Last year’s election week dampened meetings and conferences, so it’s not surprising that this year’s results show a large 20% gain in group demand for luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The week’s group demand was the sixth highest of the year. Three of the five highest weeks for group demand this year have occurred during the government shutdown.
Luxury and upper-upscale hotels saw the largest weekly RevPAR gains, both up by more than 11%, mainly on occupancy growth. Upscale hotels also did well with RevPAR increasing 5.7%. The growth in upper-tier segment RevPAR was concentrated on the weekdays as the weekend was weak. The remainder saw moderate to decreasing RevPAR. Economy hotels again saw the largest decrease as RevPAR fell 6.5%.
Caution is still the word
While U.S. RevPAR growth was strong for the week, it wasn’t a turning point or signal that better days are ahead for U.S. hotels. Easy comps to last year’s presidential election made for strong year-over-year results, although demand was slightly higher than it was two years ago. We expect demand to begin its seasonal slowdown as we get closer to the end of the year. We can expect spikes here and there but nothing too different from what we have seen most of this year.
RevPAR advancing across the globe
Global hotel RevPAR on a same-store basis remained strong, increasing 7.9% on a 7.1% ADR gain. Leaders this week included France, Germany, India, Italy, Latin America, and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries where RevPAR rose by more than 11% with all, except India, driven by strong ADR growth. India saw nearly equal growth in both occupancy and ADR. China also posted a second consecutive week of RevPAR growth, up 1%.
The rebound in travel within India was widespread with occupancy growing by more than 8 percentage points with multiple markets observing even stronger gains. Same-store occupancy for the country stood at 78.4%, the highest of the past 33 weeks. Absolute ADR was also at its highest level of the past 33 weeks. Among the largest markets, based on supply, standouts included Bengaluru, where RevPAR increased 55.8%, and Mumbai, which saw a RevPAR increase of 20.1% on occupancy of 84.6%.
Latin America’s hotel performance growth was led by multiple countries including Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Honduras, where RevPAR increased by more than 20%. Growth in Brazil and Colombia were ADR-led versus occupancy in Bolivia and Honduras. Occupancy in the region ranged from 80% in Uruguay to 44.7% in Panama, where the measure fell 3.4 percentage points. Occupancy overall in the region was 70.7%, flat to last year.
Mexico also had a good week with RevPAR rising 9.8% on an 11.3% increase in ADR. All but five of the country’s 14 markets saw double-digit ADR gains with only Mexico Central/Bajio going backwards. Mexico City had the nation’s highest occupancy at 84.8% with the Mexican Caribbean at 72.9% – both were up year over year.
Italy’s gains were also widespread with RevPAR in Rome, the largest market, up 33.3% on a 21.1% ADR gain. Occupancy was robust in most of the key markets with Rome at 86.3% followed by Turin (81.9%), and Emilia Romagna and Milan both above 80%. While occupancy grew, increasing ADR was the primary driver of Italy’s RevPAR gains this week.
Canadian hotels continued to see solid growth with RevPAR rising 7.5% on a 6% increase in ADR. Toronto saw the measure grow 18% on strong gains early in the week with Sunday up 51.5%. However, RevPAR retreated on the weekend (-4.2%). Montreal and Vancouver both saw weekly RevPAR advance by more than 7% on a combination of occupancy and ADR.
Isaac Collazo is senior director of analytics at STR.
This article represents an interpretation of data collected by CoStar's hospitality analytics firm, STR. Please feel free to contact an editor with any questions or concerns. For more analysis of STR data, visit the data insights blog on STR.com.