HOUSTON, Texas—In the weeks after Hurricane Ike made landfall on 13 September and devastated Galveston, Baytown and other coastal cities in Texas, inland Houston received a boon in occupancy from displaced residents, first responders and insurance agents that insulated the market from the lagging average-daily-rate growth and revenue-per-available-room growth throughout the rest of the country.
According to STR, October occupancy in the market was 84 percent (+19.6 from 2007), compared to 62.1 percent occupancy for the rest of the country. ADR of US$109.74 (+12.2 percent from 2007) slightly outpaced the national average for the month by a margin of US$2.14. At US$92.21 (+34.1 percent from 2007) the market’s RevPAR for the month was well above the U.S. industry’s measure of US$66.85.
October Year-Over-Year Performance
| |
Occupancy (% change)
|
ADR (% change)
|
RevPAR (% change)
|
|
Houston
|
84% (+19.6%)
|
US$109.74 (+12.2%)
|
US$92.21 (+34.1%)
|
|
Total U.S.
|
62.1% (-6.5%)
|
US$107.60 (-0.5%)
|
US$66.85 (-7.0%)
|
Source: STR
These monthly gains helped push Houston above national year-to-date averages as well.
October Year-To-Date Performance
| |
Occupancy (% change) |
ADR (% change) |
RevPAR (% change) |
| Houston |
68.2% (+1.3%) |
US$100.69 (+9.8%) |
US$68.63 (+11.2%) |
| Total U.S. |
62.8% (-3.4%) |
US$107.44 (+3.2%) |
US$67.51 (-0.3%) |
Source: STR
The property-level perspective
 |
| Hilton Americas-Houston |
While those numbers suggest a broad-reaching level of success, performance varied from property to property.
At the Hilton Americas-Houston, a 1,203-room convention hotel located downtown, GM Joe Palmieri said, “2008 has been a record year for us.” While most of the banquets and convention groups cancelled in light of the hurricane, the influx of emergency workers and insurance personnel yielded occupancy growth in both September and October, he added.
Convention hotels in the market have fared well in general. According to data from STR, Houston was one of only two major U.S. markets to post positive year-to-date growth in all three major performance metrics through October.
Selected U.S. Market YTD Performance - Convention Hotels
| |
Occupancy (% change) |
ADR (% change) |
RevPAR (% change) |
| Chicago, Illinois |
71.2% (-4.0%) |
US$179.48 (+3.3%) |
US$127.77 (-0.8%) |
| Houston, Texas |
70.3% (+1.9%) |
US$150.62 (+8.0%) |
US$105.87 (+10.1%) |
| Las Vegas, Nevada |
71.5% (-7.4%) |
US$125.77 (-0.4%) |
US$89.95 (-7.7%) |
| Los Angeles, CA |
80.5% (-0.8%) |
US$196.38 (+5.1%) |
US$158.05 (+4.3%) |
| Maui, Hawaii |
74.9% (-7.9%) |
US$375.99 (+1.4%) |
US$281.56 (-6.5%) |
| New York, New York |
85.1% (-1.1%) |
US$286.68 (+7.1%) |
US$243.98 (+5.9%) |
| Orlando, Florida |
72.8% (-1.8%) |
US$160.59 (+3.0%) |
US$116.93 (+1.2%) |
| San Francisco, California |
80.5% (+3.3%) |
US$196.38 (+4.2%) |
US$158.05 (+7.7%) |
Source: STR
