The weekly hotel industry data is in from the United States and Canada.
Overall, the U.S. hotel industry’s occupancy rose 2.8% to 71.6%, average daily rate increased 3.3% to US$102.33, and revenue per available room finished the week up 6.2% to US$73.30.
Orlando, Florida, experienced the largest decreases in all three key performance metrics during the week of 19-25 June 2011, according to data from STR, the parent company of HotelNewsNow.com.
The market’s occupancy fell 5.7% to 71.2%, its ADR decreased 4.7% to US$88.77, and its RevPAR dropped 10.1% to US$63.24.
The Canadian hotel industry, meanwhile, reported decreases in all three key performance metrics for the week of 19-25 June 2011, according to STR.
In year-over-year measurements, the Canadian hotel industry ended the week with a 5.1-percent decrease in occupancy to 70.6%, a 9.9% decrease in ADR to CAD$132.19 (US$137.18) and a 14.5% drop in RevPAR to CAD$93.36 (US$96.88).
Another woman has fallen to her death from a W Hotel, this time in Washington, D.C., as investigations continue into shattered glass and lawsuits at two separate W properties, reports HotelNewsNow.com’s Jason Q. Freed.
Meanwhile, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide continues to cooperate with investigations involving broken glass at two other properties—both leading to injured guests and subsequent lawsuits. Officials at Starwood and Noble Investments are stressing the incidents are completely unrelated.
Chatham Lodging Trust announced late Wednesday it will acquire from Innkeepers USA Trust interests in 69 premium-branded hotels, most of which were recently renovated.
In an interview with HotelNewsNow.com on Tuesday, Jeffrey H. Fisher, Chatham's chairman, CEO and president, said his previous experience with Innkeepers USA Trust (he previously was Innkeepers' chairman, CEO and president) helped pave the way for the deal. "We built every hotel in that portfolio," he said.
The Palm Beach, Florida-based real-estate investment trust will invest approximately US$232 million in the transactions, consisting of US$195 million in an outright purchase of five of the hotels and a US$37-million acquisition of a 9.2% interest in a joint venture with affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management that will acquire 64 of the hotels for approximately US$1.13 billion.
Online discount and coupon sites are causing angst for hoteliers and online travel agencies alike in Thailand, reports HotelNewsNow.com’s correspondent Susan Cunningham.
The deep, inclusive group discounts offered in online flash sales may be familiar throughout the hotel industry in North America and Europe, due in part to the spectacular rise of Expedia’s Groupon during the past two years. But for hotels and OTAs in Asia, it’s a newer sales channel. For the Thai hotel industry, which is already grappling with eroding room rates, it’s a threatening one.
Yesterday we ran incorrect figures for AAA’s Independence Day travel forecast. Here is the correct information:
AAA forecasts 39 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the U.S. Independence Day holiday weekend, a 2.5% decline from the 40 million people who traveled a year ago.
Approximately 32.8 million people plan to travel by automobile and that’s a decline of almost 1 million auto travelers from the 33.7 million who drove last year. Automobile travel remains the dominant mode of transportation (84% of holiday travelers) despite gasoline prices approximately a dollar per gallon more expensive than a year ago in many parts of the country. If current market conditions persist, AAA expects the national average price for regular gasoline to remain between US$3.60 and US$3.70 per gallon during the Independence Day holiday weekend.
Compiled by Stacey Higgins.