US hospitality sector starts to bounce back, as occupancy rises

The latest hotel booking data from Smith Travel Research (STR) has revealed for the first time in the many weeks since the pandemic took hold, US hotels have sold over ten million room-nights during the week that ended May 9, 2020.

These numbers demonstrate an uptick of more than three million room-nights over the week of April 11.

US hotel occupancy rose to 30.1% for the weekend of May 9, showing an increase in weekend occupancies for the second week in a row.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR) at hotels in resort destinations was still down by 82.4%, as compared with the same week in 2019.

For the week in question, total US RevPAR rates had fallen 74.4% year-on-year, but still that was a figure better than most people expected.

Among chain scale markets, those on the upper end aren’t seeing quite the same level of rebound as those on the lower end.

By contrast, lower-end and economy hotels experienced a 45% RevPAR decline, while midscale occupancy registered 60% diminished RevPAR rates for the week.

New York City’s occupancy levels are now in the 40% range, while most of the top 25 markets recorded occupancies between 20-30%.