by Calculated Risk on 4/23/2009 01:55:00 PM
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Hotel Occupancy Off 11%
From HotelNewsNow.com: STR reports U.S. data for week ending 18 April 2009
In year-over-year measurements, the industry’s occupancy fell 10.7 percent to end the week at 57.4 percent. Average daily rate dropped 10.3 percent to finish the week at US$97.25. Revenue per available room [RevPAR] for the week decreased 19.9 percent to finish at US$55.83.
emphasis added

This graph shows the YoY change in the occupancy rate (3 week trailing average).
The three week average is off 11.1% from the same period in 2008.
The average daily rate is down 10.3%, so RevPAR is off 19.9% from the same week last year.
When the Q1 advance GDP report is released on Wednesday (April 29th), I expect to see a sharp in decline in non-residential structure investment. The underlying details will be released a couple of days later, and I expect investment in lodging to be hit especially hard. Why build new hotels when the occupancy rate is 57%?