The start of December doesn’t seem to come with good news for the U.S. hotel industry. According to this article all three key performance measurements decreased in the week of November 29 – December 5, 2009.
The market performance measurements are going down
Compared to the same period last year, the occupancy rate in the U.S. hotels fell by 4.9%, reaching only 47.6% on average. The average room rate (ADR) dropped by 7.3% compared to the same period in 2008, reaching $96.25, while the revenue per available (RevPAR) room dropped by 11.95%.
The highest decrease in occupancy rate was reported by Houston (Texas). The 23.2% decrease led to an average occupancy rate of 51.1% during the week of December 5. Orlando and San Francisco are doing just as worse, with occupancy rates falling by 10% in both cities.
San Francisco also reported the largest ADR decrease. It fell by 25.9%, reaching $122.94 per night. Phoenix (Arizona) and Miami (Florida) aren’t doing very well either, with ADR decreasing by 16.1% and 15.6% respectively.
When it comes to the RevPAR, the largest decrease was reported by Huston. It fell by 34.1% reaching $45.36. San Francisco had the same fate, with RevPAR falling by 33.3%.
But some numbers are going up
Out of all hotel segments, the luxury one reported an increase of 1.5% in occupancy rate reaching 61.4%.
Out of the Top 25 markets, Hawaii is leading, with the Oahu Island occupancy rate rising 15.3% to 74.7%. New Orleans (Louisiana) follows, with an increase of 13.1%, reaching 67.6%, while Tampa-St. Petersburg (Florida) reports an increase of 11.8%, reaching 52.2%.
New Orleans reported the only increase in ADR. The prices went up by 25.9%, reaching $150.39 per night. The city also reported the largest RevPAR. It went up by a whooping 42.4% and reached $101.72. Oahu Island and Tampa-St.Petersburg also reported increases by 7.1% and 1.8% respectively.
What’s the trend, anyway?
Looking back at the data for the week ending on November 28, 2009 things seem to go getting slightly worse (at least in some cities). Overall, during November 22-28, 2009, compared to the same period last year the occupancy rate fell by 1.7% and ADR dropped by 6.7%.
But Oahu Island keeps reporting increase in occupancy rate (27% for the week ending on Nov 28 and 15.3% for the week ending on Dec 5). However, several markets which reported good numbers for the previous week, are now reporting decreases.
Overall, no one is sure what would happen over the next weeks. Signs are that the occupancy rate, ADR and RevPAR are going up in certain cities. But once the winter holidays are over, there’s still a lot of uncertainty in the air.
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- Affordable Hotels and Fewer Tourists in Honolulu before December
- Hotel Rates Continue to Fall
- Hotel Occupancy Increases in Puerto Rico and Decreases in Other Cities in the Americas