Higher rates continue to make up for lower occupancies across the U.S. hotel industry, pushing weekly room revenue higher than it was in 2019, but not high enough to negate the effects of inflation.
Data from STR show U.S. hotel industry occupancy for the week ended April 23 rebounded from the pre-Easter slump to 65.8%, down 2.9% from the same week in 2019, which also included Easter Sunday. Occupancy for the week was the 10th highest of the pandemic era; it has been down from 2019 by 3.5 percentage points or less for six consecutive weeks. On Easter Sunday, occupancy was higher than it was in 2019.
Weekday occupancy ranked among the best of the pandemic era in the top 25 markets and central business districts, despite falling slightly post-Easter. At 67.3%, top 25 weekday occupancy was the fifth highest, while central business districts averaged 63.6% in weekday occupancy, the sixth best of the recovery. Tuesday through Thursday, top 25 market occupancy surged to 71.8%, its highest for those three days since just before the pandemic. The same was true for the central business districts, where occupancy reached 69.2%.