by Calculated Risk on 12/09/2021 01:13:00 PM

Note: Since occupancy declined sharply at the onset of the pandemic, CoStar is comparing to 2019.

From CoStar: STR: US Weekly Hotel Occupancy Hovers Around Mid-50%

U.S. hotel occupancy increased from the previous week, but performance comparisons with 2019 were lower, according to STR‘s latest data through December 4.

November 28 through December 4, 2021 (percentage change from comparable week in 2019*):

• Occupancy: 54.8% (-8.8%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): $127.92 (-0.5%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): $70.08 (-9.2%)

*Due to the steep, pandemic-driven performance declines of 2020, STR is measuring recovery against comparable time periods from 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).

Although down compared to 2019, the 4-week average of the occupancy rate is close to the median rate for the previous 20 years (Blue).

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

The occupancy rate will now decline seasonally into the new year.