STR projected that the average daily U.S. hotel rate during June, July and August would increase by 4.1 percent year over year

, marking a "continuation of industrywide rate recovery and the tempering of consumer's expectations for heavily discounted hotel rooms," according to Brad Garner, the firm's COO. STR also projected that occupancy this summer would increase by 1.7 percent to 66.7 percent and that revenue per available room would be up 5.9 percent. Garner noted that higher air travel and gasoline costs could slow the growth rate for all those metrics.