US Hotel Occupancy Down while Canadian Hotel Occupancy Up in the Last Week of 2013
The hotel industry in the US had a good year in 2013. It wasn’t as good as 2007, but the figures show that the general trend is positive. However, the last week of the year was a bit of a letdown. Occupancy between December 22-28 fell by 1.6% and stood at 44.6%–quite a surprise since that was supposed to be the peak holiday season. However revenue per room shows a slight improvement.
Statistics are different across markets. For instance, the occupancy rate actually went up in Tampa-St. Petersburg, Francisco/San Mateo, and some other regions, while it dropped by a massive 14.7% in St. Louis. The Average Daily Rate (ADR) has gone up by 8.7% in Orlando and by 7.6% in Oahu, while it went down by 4.3% in New York.
The RevPAR grew by more than 10% in two markets – in Tampa-St Petersburg by 14.5% and in San Francisco/San Mateo by 12.3%. However it has fallen in St Louis by 14.1%.
Results reported from Canada are mixed as well. But the hoteliers there can afford to be happy because in the December 22-28 week, the occupancy rate showed an improvement, going up by an impressive 9.1% to reach 40.4%. That’s a stark contrast with the US market that same week. However the American figure of 44.6% is still better than the Canadian figure of 40.4%. Revenue per room in Canada has also gone up by 8.2%.
It also seems that Ontario is doing better. Occupancy grew by a staggering 25.9% there to stand at 46.4%. On the other hand, in Prince Edward Island, it has come down to 14.6%, a decline of 25%. Hoteliers there will have to investigate what’s going wrong.
The ADR has gone up too in Ontario by 6.8%. The ADR is down by 6.2% in Alberta. The RevPAR figures look impressive as well, particularly in Ontario, where it has climbed 34.4% in the December 22nd-28th week. There have been losses in some regions, but Ontario’s growth story has offset this.
