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The U.S. lodging industry's total revenue per available room in 2021 rose to 83.2 percent of the prepandemic level, hospitality data provider STR revealed. Hotel performance improved steadily over the course of the year.
The recovery was thanks in large part to surging rates on the leisure side, which contributed to a total average daily rate for the year of $124.67, just 4.8 percent shy of the 2019 ADR and the fourth-highest year on record. Occupancy climbed to 57.6 percent for the year, a 12.6 percent drop compared with 2019. The total-year RevPAR was $71.87, which was 16.8 percent lower than the 2019 figure.
Though pricing power was strong, it was just the second year since 2011 that U.S. occupancy fell below 60 percent (the first being 2020). The RevPAR total also trailed only 2020 as the second-lowest in the past eight years.
None of the top 25 markets reported an occupancy increase over 2019, though Tampa came closest, where the 68.4 percent occupancy was just 5.2 percent down from 2019 levels. The lowest occupancy marks in the top 25 markets were hit by Minneapolis, at 44.4 percent, and San Francisco/San Mateo, at 47.7 percent. The San Francisco area was home to the steepest RevPAR drop, falling 64.2 percent to $72.97.
The top markets to exceed their 2019 performance were Miami, where ADR shot up by 14.7 percent to $223.49, and Norfolk/Virginia Beach, where RevPAR rose by 7.7 percent to $72.31. Overall, the top 25 markets experienced lower occupancy but higher ADR than all other markets in the country.