by Calculated Risk on 2/12/2016 02:22:00 PM

Interesting tidbit: Even though January is one of the weakest periods of the year, average weekly hotel occupancy in 2016 is already above the average for all of 2009 (the worst year for hotels since the Depression)!

Here is an update on hotel occupancy from HotelNewsNow.com: STR: US results for week ending 6 February

In year-over-year measurements, the industry’s occupancy decreased 1.9% to 56.6%. However, ADR for the week was up 5.2% to $119.03 and RevPAR rose 3.3% to $67.33.

In year-over-year measurements, the industry’s occupancy decreased 1.9% to 56.6%. However, average daily rate for the week was up 5.2% to US$119.03, and revenue per available room rose 3.3% to US$67.33.
emphasis added

The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four week average.  The occupancy rate should continue to increase for the next couple of months.

The red line is for 2016, dashed orange is 2015, blue is the median, and black is for 2009 - the worst year since the Great Depression for hotels.

2015 was the best year on record for hotels.

So far 2016 is tracking 2015. A solid start to the year.

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