Demand for U.S. hotels increased for the fourth week in a row, according to STR, with absolute occupancy for the week ending May 9 at 30.1 percent, up from 28.8 percent the prior week.
Last week's occupancy was 55.9 percent lower compared with the week ending May 11, 2019. The declines for all three key hotel performance indicators were less steep this past week than in previous weeks. Weekly average daily rate declined 42.1 percent year over year to $76.35, and revenue per available room declined 74.4 percent to $22.95.
"More people are flying, as shown in daily checkpoint counts from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, and more people are staying in hotels for a variety of purposes—the weekly number of rooms sold topped 10 million for the first time since the end of March," said STR SVP of lodging insights Jan Freitag. "The markets benefitting more from leisure sources in areas with more relaxed distancing measures will see a sharper recovery line than others. Overall, the recovery will be uneven across the country."
Aggregate data for the Top 25 markets showed larger year-over-year declines than in the national averages. Occupancy fell 63.2 percent to 27.9 percent. ADR dropped 49.5 percent to $82.68. RevPAR declined 81.4 percent to $23.07.
Group data for the top 25 markets for the luxury and upper upscale segments remained steady, with most reporting near zero for group occupancy, reflecting about 90 percent to 100 percent decreases from the year prior. The exceptions were San Diego, with 13.5 percent group occupancy representing a 58 percent decline, and New York City, with 23.5 percent group occupancy for a 64.3 percent increase over last year. These higher figures might be because first responder and medical personnel could be using group rates at these hotels, explained Freitag.
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