The lodging industry is basking in the warm glow of pent-up summer travel demand. Weekly hotel occupancy in the United States reached its highest level since October 2019, according to lodging-data provider STR, while rates have hit an all-time high.
For the week of July 18-24, occupancy was 71.4 percent. Although down 7.8 percent from the comparable week in 2019, that's the highest it's been in 21 months. According to STR, the middle weeks of July have historically been the highest weeks each year.
Meanwhile, average daily rate climbed to $141.75, a 4 percent increase over the same week in 2019 and the highest it's ever been on an absolute basis. When adjusted for inflation, it falls just short of the record set in 2019.
Thanks to those numbers, revenue per available room was the highest it's been since July 2019, at $101.24. That's 4.2 percent shy of the comparable week in 2019.
STR continues to compare what would typically be year-over-year numbers to 2019, given the nosedive hotel performance took in 2020. Tampa, Fla., which reported an occupancy rate of 78.5 percent for the week, was the only top 25 market to show an increase over the same week in 2019 (2.9 percent). On the other side of the state, Miami enjoyed the steepest ADR and RevPAR increases, with rate skyrocketing 52 percent to $237.49 and RevPAR climbing 49.3 percent to $183.66.
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