From HotelNewsNow.com: STR: US hotel results for week ending 5 December
U.S. weekly hotel occupancy increased slightly from the previous week, according to the latest data from STR through 5 December.
29 November through 5 December 2020 (percentage change from comparable week in 2019):
• Occupancy: 37.4% (-37.9%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$86.21 (-33.1%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$32.23 (-58.4%)With slightly higher demand after Thanksgiving, occupancy improved after several weeks of lowering levels. With a tougher year-over-year comparable, however, the country’s RevPAR decline was its worst since late June.
emphasis added
Since there is a seasonal pattern to the occupancy rate – see graph below – we can track the year-over-year change in occupancy to look for any improvement. This table shows the year-over-year change since the week ending Sept 19, 2020:
| Week Ending | YoY Change, Occupancy Rate |
|---|---|
| 9/19 | -31.9% |
| 9/26 | -31.5% |
| 10/3 | -29.6% |
| 10/10 | -29.2% |
| 10/17 | -30.7% |
| 10/24 | -31.7% |
| 10/31 | -29.0% |
| 11/7 | -35.9% |
| 11/14 | -32.7% |
| 11/21 | -32.6% |
| 11/28 | -28.5% |
| 11/28 | -37.9% |
This suggests no improvement over the last 3 months.
The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four week average.
Click on graph for larger image.
The red line is for 2020, dash light blue is 2019, blue is the median, and black is for 2009 (the worst year since the Great Depression for hotels – before 2020).
Seasonally we’d expect the occupancy rate to decline into the new year.
Note: Y-axis doesn’t start at zero to better show the seasonal change.