The latest hotel industry analysis

U.S. hotel weekly occupancy slipped a bit in the most recent week of reporting (27 February-5 March 2022), falling to 61.2% from 62.2% the week prior. While all attention is focused on rising gas prices and the potential impact on hotel demand, this week’s decrease was due to a weaker Sunday as the previous Sunday benefited from the Presidents’ Day holiday.

STR’s latest 28-day visuals show markets collectively getting closer to their seasonal performance expectations. The leaders and laggards are highlighted in the “bubble” charts below with averages covering the four weeks ending 12 February.

STR’s final 51-chart map of the year shows recent national/regional trends and many states finishing 2021 strong. Further, trend lines for revenue per available room (RevPAR) on a total-room-inventory (TRI) basis provide ample evidence of the hotel industry’s extraordinary rebound, particularly in the second half of the year. 

The summer travel season, helped by growing vaccination rates around the world, allowed Caribbean hotels to pick up steam in their road to recovery.  

Following up on STR’s initial Hurricane Ida analysis from 10 September, a vast majority of hotels in the New Orleans MSA have reopened with improving occupancy levels, especially in the core city center/central business district. This high volume of reopenings was to be expected because most closures were due to short-term power outages rather than property damage. Remaining short-term temporary closures are mostly concentrated in submarkets outside of the city.

These summaries include the following: 

Almost two weeks after Hurricane Ida made landfall, the impact of the storm is becoming clearer. Reports show the latest death toll at more than 130 between the Gulf region and the Northeast, and officials in New Orleans are still advising evacuees to stay away from the affected areas due to continued power outages, road blockages, and disruptions in other essential services.

After the outbreak of the epidemic in Guangdong at the end of May, the occupancy rates of the two major cities in Guangdong—Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and other parts of the province—have fallen to the bottom. As the center of this epidemic, Guangzhou hotels have been more severely affected. With the implementation of anti-epidemic measures and accelerated vaccination, the Guangzhou epidemic has gradually improved in mid-June.

Tianjin, as an important regional hub and international port of the country, is the gateway to the opening up of the northern region. Since the beginning of 2021, as the epidemic prevention and control gradually stabilized, Tianjin hotel market performance rebounded significantly with occupancy rate and average room rate showing positive performance.

Beijing, Tianjin & Hebei Markets

In the past, STR has received questions regarding average parking space at U.S. hotels. Most of the time, those questions have come from developers looking to support plans that include parking structures.