STR: U.S. Hotel Rates Fall As Occupancy Plummets

U.S. lodging industry occupancy and revenue per available room dropped by double-digit percentage levels in January compared with the previous year, according to data released by Smith Travel Research.

Occupancy for the month fell to 45.9 percent, down 10.7 percent from the 51.5 percent occupancy levels seen in January 2008, the data indicated. RevPAR dropped 15.3 percent to $46.24, and the average daily rate was down 5.2 percent to $100.66.

"The U.S. lodging industry results in January continued to reflect the deteriorating economic conditions throughout the country," Smith Travel Research president Mark Lomanno said in a statement. "In addition, the recent trend of accelerating declines in performance seen in the top 25 U.S. markets highlights the difficulty hotels face when declines in both business and leisure travel occur in tandem."

Among those top markets, New York saw the biggest drop in average daily rate, down 13. 1 percent. New York's RevPAR also was down by 27.1 percent, topped only by Detroit, which dropped by 28.6 percent, in terms of the steepest fall in RevPAR. Washington, D.C., was alone among the top cities in bucking the downward trend in rate, occupancy and RevPAR, boosted largely by presidential inauguration activity.