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STR: U.S. occupancy hits 50 percent

The metric has not reached this high since March

U.S. HOTEL PERFORMANCE went up in July over June, though it remained down from last year. The trend continued into the second week of August with week-over-week performance up and occupancy reaching 50 percent for the first time since mid-March.

Occupancy ended at 47 percent in July, down 36.1 percent from July 2019 but up from 42.2 percent in June. ADR was down 24.8 percent to $101.76 and RevPAR dropped 52 percent to $47.84. ADR in June ended at $92.15 and RevPAR finished that month at $38.88.


Occupancy reached 50.2 percent during the week ending Aug. 15, still down 30 percent from last year. ADR for the week finished at $101.41, down 23 percent year over year while RevPAR dropped 46.1 percent to $50.87.

For the week ending Aug. 8, occupancy stood at 49.9 percent, ADR was $100.88, and RevPAR was $50.37.

“August weekly data shows occupancy just below 50 percent due to a slow and steady rise in demand that has slowed,” according to STR.

Occupancy has risen week over week for 17 of the last 18 weeks, although growth in demand room nights sold) has slowed. The week ending March 14 was the last with occupancy of at least 50 percent.

Continuing another trend, occupancy for STR’s top 25 markets together for the week ending Aug. 15 was lower than the national average at 42.2 percent. ADR, ending the week at $99.29, also was lower.

Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia, the only top 25 market to consistently top 60 percent occupancy, finished the week of Aug. 15 at 65.3 percent.

Markets reaching or surpassing 50 percent occupancy were Philadelphia at 52.7 percent; San Diego at 51.8 percent; Detroit at 51.5 percent; and Los Angeles/Long Beach, California at 50.8 percent.

Oahu Island, Hawaii, was at the bottom of the list for both the week, with 22.8 percent, and the month of July with 23.3 percent.

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