Not surprisingly, the weeknight with the lowest occupancy for hotels is Sunday. On average, over the last 12 months, U.S. Sunday occupancy was 47.3%, with a low of 37.2% in December 2011 and a high of 57.9% in July 2011, according to data from STR, parent company of HotelNewsNow.com.
Given the distinct lack of occupancy, one would expect Sunday nights to have the largest discounted rates and that average daily rate would suffer, but STR’s data reveals a trend far from it, writes Jan Freitag. In resort properties, the Sunday ADR of $139 is only exceeded by Friday or Saturday nights but is higher than all other weeknights. In urban locations, the Sunday ADR of $146 is actually higher than Friday or Saturday night rates, and lower than each weeknight’s ADR.
The top 25 markets are somewhat immune to the lag in occupancy, but that doesn’t mean hoteliers in other cities can’t beat the Sunday blues. Whether through creative marketing packages or requiring minimum night stays for groups, there are always ways to drive additional demand, sources said.
Another week, another round of hotel performance results from the STR team in Hendersonville, Tennessee.
In the U.S., the numbers look healthy. Overall, the industry’s occupancy ended the week with a 3.3% increase to 75.1%, average daily rate increased 4.8% to $108.95 and revenue per available room ended the week with an increase of 8.2% to $81.87.
The upscale segment experienced the largest RevPAR growth, rising 9.2% to $99.91, followed by the luxury segment (+9% to $207.73), the upper-midscale segment (+8.6% to $80.88) and the upper-upscale segment (+8.5% to $126.38).
The picture was not as rosy in Canada, where the three key metrics declined for the week ending 28 July. In year-over-year measurements, the country’s hotel occupancy decreased 1.8% to 74.4%, its ADR was down 0.6% to $132.97 Canadian dollars ($131.96) and its RevPAR declined 2.4% to CA$98.94 ($98.19).
Speaking of data, new forward-looking stats from TravelClick show healthy gains in committed roomnights already on the books for the third quarter. Overall committed occupancy is up 5.4% for the period of July through September. Group committed occupancy is up 5.6%, while transient committed occupancy is up 5.1%.
Third quarter ADR is showing a 5.7% increase over the same time last year, with group segment ADR and transient segment ADR up 5.1% and 6.1%, respectively.
Looking further out, committed occupancy for Q4 is showing strong gains as well. The metric is up 9.5% in comparison to the previous year, supported by significant increases during October (11%) and December (17.2%). Group committed occupancy is up 8.1% in comparison to a year ago, with early booking transient demand coming in very strong, up 17.2% over the same time last year.
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust joined the Q2 earnings fray Thursday with another strong report. The company recorded 12.9% increase in pro forma RevPAR to $186.32, a 5.4% increase in pro forma ADR to $219.57 and a 7.1% increase in pro forma occupancy to 84.9%.
The real-estate investment trust during the quarter acquired three hotels: the Hotel Milano in San Francisco for $29.8 million; the Hotel Vintage Park Seattle for $32.5 million; and the Hotel Vintage Plaza Portland in Oregon for $30.5 million.
Pebblebrook’s stock (NYSE: PEB) closed Thursday at $21.99 and is up 12.8% year to date.
Total nonfarm payroll employment in the United States rose by 163,000 in July, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 8.3%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday.
The DOL also reported the advanced figure for U.S. seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 365,000 during the week ending 28 July, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 357,000. The four-week moving average was 365,500, a decrease of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average of 368,250.
Compiled by Patrick Mayock.
