Hotels: Concerns about Fewer Foreign Visitors in 2017

From HotelNewsNow.com: US hoteliers keep eye on dip in bookings from Europe

U.S. hoteliers have reported seeing a decline in bookings from European travelers heading into 2017 and are looking to explain what has caused the drop.

Possible factors include economic uncertainty in the continent, coupled with a new U.S. president who is unpopular in several European countries. But it’s hard to say what combination of things, if any, is keeping Europeans away.

PM Hotel Group began watching reservations originating from other countries shortly after the presidential election, President Joe Bojanowski said. Company officials had serious concerns about foreign inbound travel in the New York City and San Francisco areas, he said, and the company has seen a decline in reservations in those markets.

From HotelNewsNow.com: STR: US hotel results for week ending 14 January

The U.S. hotel industry reported mixed results in the three key performance metrics during the week of 8-14 January 2017, according to data from STR.

In year-over-year comparisons, the industry’s occupancy decreased 0.9% to 56.6%. However, average daily rate (ADR) rose 2.8% to US$122.29, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased 1.9% to US$69.24.
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The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four week average.

The red line is for 2017, 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 2017 is close to 2015, and well ahead of the median rate.  

For hotels, this is the slow season of the year, and occupancy will pick up into the Spring.

Data Source: STR, Courtesy of HotelNewsNow.com