Compared with August 2015, the U.S. hotel industry’s occupancy was nearly flat (-0.4% to 70.2%). However, average daily rate for the month increased 2.5% to US$125.42, and revenue per available room grew 2.1% to US$88.10.
HENDERSONVILLE, TENNESSEE – The U.S. hotel industry recorded mostly positive results in the three key performance metrics during August 2016, according to data from STR.
Compared with August 2015, the U.S. hotel industry’s occupancy was nearly flat (-0.4% to 70.2%). However, average daily rate for the month increased 2.5% to US$125.42, and revenue per available room grew 2.1% to US$88.10.
“The slowdown continued in August with the second-lowest RevPAR growth figure of the year,” said Jan Freitag, STR’s senior VP for lodging insights. “With year-to-date supply growth (+1.5%) ahead of demand (+1.3%), ADR is the sole driver of RevPAR, and the 2.5% ADR increase matched May for the lowest this year."
“On the bright side, we sold more roomnights than any other August on record, and ADR and RevPAR are still at all-time highs,” Freitag said. “RevPAR has now grown year over year for 78 consecutive months, and even with muted expectations, we don’t anticipate that changing anytime soon.”
Among the Top 25 Markets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-New Jersey, posted the largest year-over-year increase in occupancy (+5.2% to 76.7%) as well as the only double-digit increases in ADR (+11.3% to US$132.68) and RevPAR (+17.1% to US$101.71).
The next highest RevPAR increases were reported in Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida (+8.4% to US$70.15); Los Angeles/Long Beach, California (+7.4% to US$165.14); Nashville, Tennessee (+7.2% to US$95.78); and Detroit, Michigan (+7.0% to US$73.19).
In absolute values, San Francisco/San Mateo, California, reported the highest occupancy level (89.3%).
Oahu Island, Hawaii, recorded the highest ADR (US$243.51) and RevPAR (US$211.63).
Houston, Texas, reported the largest declines in occupancy (-8.8% to 59.7%) and RevPAR (-12.7% to US$58.46).
New Orleans, Louisiana, reported the largest drop in ADR (-6.2% to US$106.29) and the second-largest RevPAR decrease for the month (-9.0% to US$60.62).
“The top markets (RevPAR +2.0%) performed pretty closely to all other markets (RevPAR +2.1%),” Freitag said. “The bad news continued for Houston with a significant supply and demand imbalance. We also saw supply growth affect RevPAR performance in markets like New York and Miami.”
STR partners with Fiji Hotel & Tourism Association
Also, STR has partnered with the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association to advance performance growth for the hotel industry in Fiji.
“We have great expectations for our partnership with the FHTA,” said Jesper Palmqvist, STR’s area director for the Asia Pacific region. “Fiji is a great leisure travel market, and we’re hopeful that, in combining our forces, we’ll be able to help this market continue to grow. STR knows the hotel industry better than anyone, and the FHTA knows this market better than anyone, so there is a lot of potential in this partnership.”
The partnership is expected to bring 70% of available hotel rooms in Fiji into participation with STR’s benchmarking program, with a goal to further strengthen participation over time. STR’s worldwide sample accounts for nearly 55,000 hotels and more than 7.4 million hotel rooms across more than 175 countries.
“STR has shown a great interest in supporting the Fijian hotel industry,” said Michael Wong, FHTA CEO. “As a globally-recognized leader in accommodation benchmarking, we are excited to be able to use this invaluable information to support our members. After the devastating impact of cyclone Winston, STR was able to provide timely, daily reports of the adjustment to performance of operators, which has been an effective tool in our conversations with Tourism Fiji and industry stakeholders. Additionally, STR works with our members with educational sessions to ensure that each of our members is benefiting and growing their business understanding.”
“This will be a great partnership as we work to expand our presence in the pacific markets,” said Matthew Burke, STR’s Pacific business development manager. “We’ve identified several opportunities to increase awareness and education on the benefits of benchmarking in this region, and we’re confident that this partnership will help us drive that further.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
