The U.S. hotel industry posted a 0.8% decline in RevPAR for the month of August 2008, according to data from STR. The monthly decrease in RevPAR was precipitated by declining occupancy, while ADR continued to increase.In year-over-year measurements, the industry's average daily rate increased 2.8 percent to end the month at $107.01. Industry occupancy fell 3.5% to finish the month at 67.5%. Revenue per available room for the month fell 0.8% to finish at $72.18. "August industry demand remained soft, down 0.7 percent despite favorable Labor Day and

Democratic National Convention (Denver, CO) activity in the last week of the month," said Brad Garner, VP of client services at STR. August room revenue increases of over 30 percent in Denver, 15% in New Orleans, 12% in New York and 10 percent in San Francisco also worked to improve achieved industry wide RevPAR for the month. Year-to-date occupancy fell 2.6% to 63.2%. ADR reached $107.41, a 3.8% increase. At $67.89, RevPAR is up 1.0% for the first seven months of 2008.