Weekday (Monday-Wednesday) travel, likely representing business and group segments, was largely responsible for a strong weekly performance by US hotels for the week ending Nov. 11, according to the latest research from STR.
Midweek revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased 9.2% year over year, the second largest increase for that day type since early May, thanks to occupancy increasing 2.1 percentage points to 64.9% and average daily rate (ADR) rising 5.6%. Shoulder days (Sunday and Thursday) also showed RevPAR growth (up 3.8%) driven by ADR (up 4.1%), while weekend RevPAR was essentially flat (up 0.9%) due to an occupancy decline (down 1.1%) and modest ADR growth (up 2.4%). Despite the drop, weekend occupancy remained above 70% for an 11th consecutive week.
The Top 25 Markets took the week’s improved performance to the next level, according to STR, with weekday RevPAR up 11.9%, the second largest RevPAR gain since early July. That gain came as occupancy increased 3.5 percentage points to 72.9% and ADR grew 6.5%. Shoulder RevPAR followed, increasing 6.7%, with ADR up 4.9% and occupancy up 1.1 percentage points, while weekends were soft, with RevPAR up 2.9%, driven by gains in both occupancy (up 1 percentage point) and ADR (up 1.6%). Weekend occupancy returned to a level above 80% after two weeks in the mid-70s.
< br>
Every Top 25 Market city saw weekday RevPAR gains except Atlanta, New Orleans and San Diego. The two markets posting the largest weekday RevPAR gains were Las Vegas (up 27.1%) and Dallas (up 24.7%). Overall, 13 of the Top 25 reported double-digit weekday RevPAR growth.
The rest of the country followed a pattern similar to that of the Top 25 Markets but at a more subdued level, with ADR the main driver of weekday RevPAR, which increased 6.7%. RevPAR on shoulder days was up 1%, while the weekend fell 0.8% due to an occupancy decline of 2.2 percentage points.
The industry as a whole reemerged from the Halloween slowdown with occupancy increasing to 64.8%, up 5.2 percentage points from the prior week and 0.5 percentage points year over year. ADR increased 4% year over year, restarting the 3%-plus growth streak that had halted the previous week. Prior to that decline, ADR had grown 3% or more for six straight weeks. RevPAR improved 4.9% year over year, which represented the largest weekly increase since early October.
