Overall, the U.S. hotel industry’s occupancy was up 2.9 percent to 65.3 percent. Its average daily rate rose 4.1 percent to US$115.28, and its revenue per available room increased 7.2 percent to US$75.31.
HENDERSONVILLE, TENNESSEE – The U.S. hotel industry reported positive results in the three key performance metrics during March 2014, according to data from STR.
Overall, the U.S. hotel industry’s occupancy was up 2.9 percent to 65.3 percent. Its average daily rate rose 4.1 percent to US$115.28, and its revenue per available room increased 7.2 percent to US$75.31.
“A variety of calendar issues skewed the March results and made the year-over-year comparisons look much better than usual,” said Jan Freitag, senior VP of strategic development at STR. “Last year, the end of March included the beginning of Passover and Easter, two events that meeting planners avoid and so groups, conferences and meetings were pushed into April of 2013. This year, both of those events fall into April, and so expect the coming results to be lower.”
“March RevPAR growth was again driven by ADR growth,” Freitag continued. “March results this year were the highest we have recorded so far in 2014. Despite the positive calendar comp issue, we see this as a good indicator for prolonged pricing power in the industry.”
Among the Top 25 Markets, Denver, Colorado, reported the largest increase in occupancy, rising 18.4 percent to 75.7 percent. Atlanta, Georgia, followed with an 11.0-percent increase to 72.4 percent. Miami/Hialeah, Florida (-3.5 percent to 85.8 percent), and New York, New York (-3.5 percent to 81.2 percent), posted the largest occupancy declines for the month.
Five markets experienced ADR growth of more than 10 percent: Denver (+15.7 percent to US$109.00); New Orleans, Louisiana (+14.8 percent to US$169.04); Nashville, Tennessee (+14.7 percent to US$117.15); San Francisco/San Mateo, California (+11.0 percent to US$185.59); and Houston, Texas (+10.4 percent to US$108.29). New York fell 5.0 percent in ADR to US$222.02, reporting the largest decrease in that metric.
Six markets achieved RevPAR increases of more than 15 percent: Denver (+37.0 percent to US$82.56); Nashville (+23.9 percent to US$92.17); Atlanta (+20.4 percent to US$66.32); Dallas, Texas (+17.9 percent to US$69.85); St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois (+15.7 percent to US$60.93); and Houston (+15.3 percent to US$84.48). New York experienced the largest RevPAR decrease, falling 8.3 percent to US$180.21.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
