by Calculated Risk on 12/30/2011 01:38:00 PM

From HotelNewsNow.com: STR: US results for week ending 24 December

The U.S. hotel industry experienced increases in all three key performance metrics during the week of 18-24 December 2011, according to data from STR.

In year-over-year comparisons for the week, occupancy rose 8.1 percent to 37.3 percent, average daily rate increased 2.7 percent to US$89.48 and revenue per available room finished the week with an increase of 11.0 percent to US$33.39.

This is the weak season for hotel occupancy, but this is a fairly strong improvement over 2010. However ADR is still about 4% below the rate for the same week in 2008. 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.

Hotels have seen a solid finish to 2011. The 4-week average of the occupancy rate is back to normal.

Looking forward, the 4-week average will decline until mid-January and then start to increase again (the normal seasonal pattern). February and March are the next key period - that is when business travel usually picks up.

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