Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

STR expert sees ‘green shoots’ for possible recovery from COVID-19 pandemic

Occupancy rates, led by weekend increases, rebound some week over week

HOPEFUL SIGNS FOR the U.S. hotel industry were seen in the week of May 3 to 9, according to STR’s deep dive into its data for the week. Demand is rising some submarkets as travel restrictions loosen, and there may be hope for a spike in occupancy on the July 4 weekend, if the ongoing recovery in China serves as a model.

In a video on STR’s website, Jan Freitag, STR’s senior vice president of lodging insights, outlined the highlights of the week.


“Good news. For the first time in a long time, U.S. hotel operators sold over 10 million room nights last week,” Freitag said. “That is an over 3 million room night improvement from the week of April 11 and certainly a good indicator of what we think is going to be a slow but still a recovery.”

Weekend occupancy is driving room demand, Freitag said. For the weekend of May 8 and 9, occupancy topped 30 percent. That is the second consecutive increase in weekend occupancy.

“When we dig into this data a little bit further, what we’re seeing is the submarkets with the largest points difference between weekday occupancy and weekend occupancy are in Florida … with access to beaches.”

At the same time, RevPAR for designated resort areas was down 82.4 percent from the same time period last year.

“Certainly this is not yet the time for vacation destinations,” Freitag said.

Total RevPAR declines for U.S. were 74.4 percent, which Freitag called “less bad than what we have seen” since declines for the rates bottomed out in the week ending April 11 at 84 percent.

The upper end of the market continues to see very dire drops in RevPAR, in the range of 88 percent, while economy is seeing declines of around 45 percent and midscale is seeing drops of 59.1 percent. Occupancy for luxury hotels during the week was around 16.5 percent while economy brands were seeing 43 percent occupancy on average.

“A little bit better, pointing at a little bit more room demand for those lower-priced properties,” Freitag said. “We fully expect this pattern to continue.”

All top 25 markets, including Oahu, Hawaii, were reporting double-digit occupancy, Freitag said, though just barely.

“Make no mistake, for a majority of the top 25 markets the occupancy rates, unfortunately, are only in the 20 to 30 percent range and skewed toward the lower end of the class spectrum,” he said.

Freitag went over occupancy data from the Chinese mainland to serve as a possible example of how the pandemic’s effects will play out in the U.S. There was a fall in occupancy after Chinese New Year on Jan. 25 followed by a very slow recovery through February and March. Normal patterns began to return around the end of March into April with a holiday spike in May. Freitag they expect a similar spike in travel, not for the Memorial Day weekend but probably for the July 4 weekend.

“This is probably going to be the recovery cycle that we’re seeing also in other areas and probably also in the U.S.,” Freitag said. “There are some green shoots, there’s some positive news to see in the global data and in U.S. data,” he said.

More for you

Asian Hospitality unveils inaugural ‘Women of Color Power List’

Asian Hospitality unveils inaugural ‘Women of Color Power List’

Women of Color Power List 2025 Debuts at AAHOACON 2025

ASIAN MEDIA GROUP USA, publisher of Asian Hospitality magazine, launched the first-ever “Women of Color Power List 2025” at the 2025 AAHOA Convention & Trade Show in New Orleans, honoring 51 women reshaping the U.S. hospitality industry. The publication is the first to spotlight the achievements of women of color, recognizing their resilience, innovation, and leadership.

Asian Media Group Managing Editor Kalpesh Solanki, Executive Editor Shailesh Solanki, and Chief Operating Officer Aditya Solanki announced the list during the conference.

Keep ReadingShow less
AAHOALending.com લોન્ચ 2025

AAHOA, બ્રિજ AAHOALending.com લોન્ચ કરે છે

AAHOA અને બ્રિજે AAHOALending.com ને AAHOACON 2025 માં રજૂ કર્યું

AAHOA અને બ્રિજે AAHOALending.com લોન્ચ કર્યું, જે હોસ્પિટાલિટી પર કેન્દ્રિત ડિજિટલ ધિરાણ પ્લેટફોર્મ છે. તે AAHOA સભ્યોને 150 થી વધુ ધિરાણકર્તાઓની ઍક્સેસ પ્રદાન કરે છે, જેમાં વધુને વધુ લોકોને નિયમિતપણે ઉમેરવાની યોજના છે, આ પ્લેટફોર્મ વપરાશકર્તાઓને ધિરાણ વિકલ્પોની તુલના કરવાની, શ્રેષ્ઠ દરો અને સુરક્ષિત ભંડોળ શોધવાની મંજૂરી આપે છે.

કોફાઉન્ડર અને CEO રોહિત માથુરની આગેવાની હેઠળના બ્રિજને ક્લબ બ્લુ ઇન્ડસ્ટ્રી પાર્ટનર તરીકે નિયુક્ત કરવામાં આવ્યા છે, જે AAHOAના પ્રોગ્રામમાં સર્વોચ્ચ સ્તર છે, તેના 300 ભાગીદારોમાંથી માત્ર 12 જ લાયકાત ધરાવે છે, એમ બંનેએ સંયુક્ત નિવેદનમાં જણાવ્યું હતું.

Keep ReadingShow less
2025માં મંદીની સંભાવના 50 ટકા : HAMA સર્વે

2025માં મંદીની સંભાવના 50 ટકા : HAMA સર્વે

HAMA 2025 સર્વે: 49% મેનેજર્સ મંદીની આશંકા ધરાવે છે

હોસ્પિટાલિટી એસેટ મેનેજર્સ એસોસિએશનના સ્પ્રિંગ 2025 ઇન્ડસ્ટ્રી આઉટલુક સર્વેક્ષણમાં અંદાજે 49 ટકા ઉત્તરદાતાઓ 2025 માં અમેરિકામાં મંદીની અપેક્ષા રાખે છે, જે 2024ના પાનખર સર્વેક્ષણમાં 19 ટકાથી વધુ છે. ટોચની ત્રણ ચિંતાઓ માંગ, ટેરિફ અને DOGE કટ અને વેતનમાં વધારો વચ્ચેનો જોડાણ છે.

HAMA સર્વેક્ષણમાં જાણવા મળ્યું છે કે લગભગ 55 ટકા ઉત્તરદાતાઓએ તેમની વર્તમાન વ્યૂહરચનાના ભાગ રૂપે બ્રાન્ડ અથવા મેનેજમેન્ટ ફેરફારો કર્યા છે અથવા કરવાની યોજના બનાવી છે.

Keep ReadingShow less
AAHOA Bridge AAHOALending 2025

AAHOA, Bridge launch AAHOALending.com

AAHOA and Bridge Unveil AAHOALending.com at AAHOACON 2025

AAHOA AND BRIDGE launched AAHOALending.com, a digital lending platform focused on hospitality. It offers AAHOA members access to more than 150 lenders, with plans to add more regularly, while allowing users to compare financing options, find the best rates and secure funding.

Bridge, led by Cofounder and CEO Rohit Mathur, has been named a Club Blue Industry Partner, the highest level in AAHOA’s program, with only 12 of its 300 partners qualifying, the duo said in a joint statement.

Keep ReadingShow less