The year-over-year decline in U.S. hotel revenue per available room for the week of March 6 was the smallest since the week ending Jan. 2. However, indexed against the same week in 2019, U.S. hotel RevPAR for the week was in recession territory, according to data from STR, CoStar's hospitality analytics firm.
A new weekly analysis of U.S. hotel performance metrics, the “Market Recovery Monitor,” puts markets into four categories based on an index that divides current revenue-per-available-room performance by benchmark performance — RevPAR for the same week in 2019, considered pre-pandemic “normal.” Ratios of 100 or more outperformed the benchmark, and below 100 underperformed. The categories are:
- Depression: Markets with an index of 50 or below against the benchmark;
- Recession: Markets with an index of between 50 and 79.9;
- Recovery: Markets with an index of between 80 and 99.9; and
- Peak: Markets with an index of 100 or higher.
For the week of Feb. 28 to March 6, 2021, U.S. hotel revenue per available room was slightly more than half of what it was in 2019, $48.13 compared to $87.75, resulting in an index of 54.8.
However, due to easier comparisons with the same week in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began to take hold in the U.S., RevPAR was down only 37.9% year over year.
On a 28-day moving average basis, about a quarter of all U.S. markets remain in depression.
However, the number of markets in that category has lessened slightly over the past several weeks. Markets deep in the depression stage included San Francisco/San Mateo, New Orleans, and Oahu Island, Hawaii. RevPAR in these three markets was 30% or less of 2019 levels — and has been at that level for some time. While all hotel types have been impacted within those three markets, large, convention hotels — with 300 or more rooms — account for most of the RevPAR loss.
Five U.S. markets were in the recovery category for the week — led by Louisiana South, which has exceeded its 2019 RevPAR since September, driven by performance in Baton Rouge and Lafayette.
The U.S. hotel industry also achieved 49% occupancy in the week of March 6 — a 20-week high led by small and medium hotels — with less than 300 rooms. Most markets across nearly every state reported week-over-week occupancy growth, led by Georgia, where hotel occupancy increased by 5.7 percentage points.
Florida hotels reported the highest actual occupancy, though the metric was down slightly compared to the previous week. All but a few Florida markets — in beach locations — posted week-over-week occupancy declines. Despite the weaker performance, nine of the top 10 markets for weekly occupancy were in Florida.
For the third consecutive week, Texas hotels posted 59.4% occupancy — the highest level since the start of the pandemic. All markets except San Antonio reported week-over-week occupancy gains. Weekend occupancy in Texas surpassed 71% for the first time in a year. Weekend occupancy in Fort Worth/Arlington above 82%. Weekday occupancy also improved, but remained in the mid-50% range.
While occupancy was on the rise, U.S. hotel average daily remained somewhat stagnant, up 1.4% week over week. While most U.S. hotel markets posted small week-over-week ADR gains, nearly a quarter experienced weekly growth of 3% or more, led by Daytona Beach, which is hosting the 80th Annual Daytona Beach Bike Week, estimated to draw 300,000 individuals from March 5-14. We expect it, plus Spring Break, to boost Florida occupancy in the coming weeks.
Isaac Collazo is VP Analytics at STR.
This article represents an interpretation of data collected by CoStar's hospitality analytics firm, STR. Please feel free to contact an editor with any questions or concerns. For more analysis of STR data, visit the data insights blog on STR.com.