The U.S. hotel industry experienced a bright spot in one of its three key performance measurements during the week of 28 February-6 March 2010, Smith Travel Research (STR) reported in a statement today. The industry’s occupancy ended the week with a 4.0 percent increase to 54.9 percent compared with a similar period in 2009.
Average daily rate dropped 3.0 percent to finish the week at US$96.05. Revenue per available room for the week was up 0.9 percent to finish at US$52.75.
The 0.9-percent year-over-year RevPAR growth represents only the third time in 18 months there was an increase in that metric, but the first time it wasn’t holiday-related.
“The growth in year-over-year RevPAR is significant because the occupancies are clearly showing an improvement and the decline in rates is finally starting to slow,” said Randy Smith, co-founder and CEO of STR. “While the size of the RevPAR increase is not significant, it is a clear sign that the outlook for the industry is improving.
“We do expect to see positive weekly RevPAR performances for the industry through the end of April,” Smith added. “If gasoline prices hold steady, this positive RevPAR performance could be a good indicator of a better summer than we’ve had for the past couple years, which of course is the key season for most hoteliers.”
Among the Chain Scale segments, the Luxury segment reported the only double-digit occupancy increase, jumping 16.5 percent to 66.4 percent, followed by the Upper Upscale segment (+8.4 percent to 66.1 percent) and the Upscale segment (+7.9 percent to 63.3 percent). The Luxury segment also reported the largest RevPAR increase, rising 10.2 percent to US$160.19.
Miami-Hialeah, Florida was among the top four markets that ended the week with double digit occupancy increases, +18.0 percent to 79.9 percent. The other three markets were Denver, Colorado; New York, New York and New Orleans, Louisiana.
Miami-Hialeah also reported the largest increase in RevPAR, jumping by 30.0 percent to US$151.25. Two other top markets experienced RevPAR increases of more than 15 percent: Atlanta (+19.8 percent to US$58.54 percent) and Denver (+15.7 percent to US$51.76).
