The end of summer not only brought less daylight and colder temperatures, but also lower revenues and profits.
In August, total revenue per available room, gross operating profit per available room and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization per available room were at lower levels than 2019 for the first time in months. Labor cost per available room, while still lower than in August 2019, is now at 99% of 2019 levels — the one metric that has consistently realized growth.
However, revenues and profits are still performing better than they have over the past two years, and profit margins continue to be in typical ranges.
The one caveat is this improvement does not take inflation into account. When adjusted for inflation, TRevPAR is $62 lower than the previous peak and GOPPAR is $38 lower.
All of the U.S. top 25 markets, including San Francisco, have been realizing month-over-month improvements in profitability. Those that are outpacing 2019 revenues and profits are typically beach and warm-weather markets, while those at the bottom continue to be the large urban, group-business-reliant markets such as New York, Minneapolis and San Francisco.
The average GOPPAR for the top 25 markets is only $9 less than 2019 levels and profit margins are only 3 percentage points lower. Year-to-date labor cost per available room for the top 25 markets is $5 higher than it was in 2019, driven by higher rooms labor as well as administrative and general, maintenance and marketing labor costs.
On the food-and-beverage side, most food-and-beverage revenues per available room are slightly up compared to year-to-date 2019, but catering and banquet revenues are down $3 per available room. So while most top 25 markets are realizing higher revenues overall, those gains are mainly from leisure guests and not so much from groups and corporate travel.
The San Francisco market has been realizing month-over-month improvements, albeit small. Year to date, TRevPAR is $219, which is up 95% from a year ago, and has been growing by 14% each month. And although GOPPAR is only at 37% of 2019 levels year to date, it has improved by $75 since the start of the year to $57.
While fewer groups and conventions are playing a role, the bigger missing piece is international travel, especially from the Asia-Pacific region. As more of the restrictions for international travel from these regions ease, gateway cities such as San Francisco will realize more improvements.
On the other side of the California, San Diego has been pulling in exceptional revenue and profit gains. TRevPAR in August for the San Diego market was $115 higher compared to August 2019, and GOPPAR was $52 higher. While the improvements year to date are softened, the market is still beyond 2019 levels, and year-to-date profit margins were higher at 41.4% versus 41.3%. Strong rates are what is keeping the market at those strong profit margins as labor cost per available room is up 7% and total expenses per available room are up 12%.
As the U.S. moves into fall, STR will continue to track revenues and profits for the top 25 markets. It will be especially interesting to see if these markets, especially those more reliant on group demand, will see any improvements from what is usually the conference season. And of course adding in the continued high-inflation issue that has affected everyone.
Raquel Ortiz is director of financial performance at STR.