The American hotel industry has economically suffered again during the first week of January. This decrease in occupancy, hotel rates and revenues shows a continuing slide in tourism spending.
This slide may be bad for the hoteliers, however, it means bargains galore for anyone planning on traveling now. Virtually every sector of the country has low hotel rates.
According to the weekly reports issued by STR Global,
In year-over-year measurements, the industry’s occupancy decreased 3.9 percent to end the week at 40.5 percent. Average daily rate dropped 6.8 percent to finish the week at US$91.85. RevPAR for the week fell 10.4 percent to finish at US$37.21. The market’s performance was positively affected by the Rose Bowl college football game, which was held on 7 January 2010.
Luxury hotels showed an increase in occupancy, but slippage in rates and revenues. Of the Top 25 Markets, Los Angeles-Long Beach did well with all three measurements showing an increase in occupancy, revenue and room rates. On the other side of the coin, Houston, Nashville and San Francisco all saw significant decreases.
The bottom line for consumers is that there are plenty of hotel deals and published rates are still dropping overall across the country.
Photo: Big Sky, Montana
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
