by Calculated Risk on 5/27/2021 11:39:00 AM

Note: The year-over-year occupancy comparisons are easy, since occupancy declined sharply at the onset of the pandemic. However, occupancy is still down significantly from normal levels.

The occupancy rate is down 15.1% compared to the same week in 2019.

From CoStar: STR: Weekly US Hotel Occupancy Reaches 60%, a First Since Start of Pandemic

U.S. weekly hotel occupancy reached the 60% mark for the first time since the start of the pandemic, according to STR‘s latest data through May 22.

May 16-22, 2021 (percentage change from comparable week in 2019*):

• Occupancy: 60.3% (-15.1%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$115.57 (-13.6%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$69.69 (-26.6%)

ADR also reached its highest point of the pandemic but was still US$18 less than the corresponding week in 2019. RevPAR also hit a high point when compared to 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 now above the horrible 2009 levels.

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