by Calculated Risk on 3/02/2012 01:31:00 PM

From HotelNewsNow.com: STR: US hotel results week ending 25 February

In year-over-year comparisons for the week, occupancy was up 2.3 percent to 61.0 percent, average daily rate increased 4.6 percent to US$103.84, and revenue per available room was up 6.9 percent to US$63.38.

Hotel occupancy and RevPAR have improved from 2011, but are still below the per-recession levels.

Note: ADR: Average Daily Rate, RevPAR: Revenue per Available Room.

The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using a four week average.

Click on graph for larger image.

The red line is for 2012, yellow is for 2011, blue is "normal" and black is for 2009 - the worst year since the Great Depression for hotels.

Looking forward, business travel usually increases over the next few months - and then occupancy increases during the summer with all the leisure travel. So far it looks like 2012 will have higher occupancy than 2011, but still be below the pre-recession median.

Data Source: Smith Travel Research, Courtesy of HotelNewsNow.com