by Calculated Risk on 7/01/2021 12:38:00 PM

Note: The year-over-year occupancy comparisons are easy, since occupancy declined sharply at the onset of the pandemic.  So STR is comparing to the same week in 2019.

The occupancy rate is down 7.3% compared to the same week in 2019. Leisure (weekend) occupancy has recovered, but weekday (more business) is still down double digits.

From CoStar: STR: Weekly US Hotel Occupancy Inches Closer to 70%

U.S. weekly hotel occupancy hit its highest level since late October 2019, according to STR‘s latest data through June 26.

June 20-26, 2021 (percentage change from comparable week in 2019*):

• Occupancy: 69.9% (-7.3%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$133.36 (-0.5%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$93.19 (-7.8%)

In addition to occupancy reaching its highest point since the week ending 26 October 2019, ADR and RevPAR were the highest of the pandemic-era. Weekend occupancy surpassed the 2019 comparable for the second time in three weeks, while ADR was 13% higher than the corresponding weekend from June 2019.
emphasis added

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 2021, black is 2020, blue is the median, dashed purple is 2019, and dashed light blue is for 2009 (the worst year on record for hotels prior to 2020).

Occupancy is well above the horrible 2009 levels and weekend occupancy (leisure) has been solid.

Note: Y-axis doesn't start at zero to better show the seasonal change.

With solid leisure travel, the next two months should have decent occupancy - but it is uncertain what will happen in the Fall with business travel.