STR Reports July 2014 Performance of Hotels in U.S.

According to data from STR, the U.S. hotel industry reported positive results in the three key performance metrics during July 2014.

Overall, in year-on-year results, the U.S. hotel industry’s occupancy was up 3.9% to 73.6%; ADR rose 4.8% to US$117.81; and RevPAR increased 8.8% to US$86.71.

“Hotels in July saw the strongest demand of a single month ever, selling 113 million room nights,” said Jan Freitag, senior VP of strategic development at STR. “RevPAR saw the second-highest growth rate of the year (+8.8%), trailing May’s increase of 10.0%. Absolute occupancy this month was 73.6%, the third highest ever, and the highest since the mid-90s.”

Thirteen of the Top 25 Markets reported double-digit RevPAR growth, led by Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota-Wisconsin, with a gain of 19.5% to US$94.17. Denver, Colorado, followed with a RevPAR increase of 19.3% to US$106.89.

Atlanta, Georgia, reported the highest occupancy increase for the month, rising 7.9% to 76.3%, followed by Minneapolis/St. Paul (+7.3% to 80.0%). Anaheim/Santa Ana, California, reported the largest occupancy decrease, falling 2.0% to 87.3%.

Seven of the Top 25 Markets reported double-digit ADR increases. Seattle, Washington, recorded the highest ADR growth, rising 13.5% to US$160.65. Denver followed with a 13.2-percent increase to US$120.17.

None of the Top 25 Markets recorded an ADR or RevPAR decrease during the month.

“When the industry sells on average over seven out of ten rooms each and every night that can only mean one thing: pricing power,” Freitag said. “Room rates increased 4.8% over last year, and given the strong demand fundamentals there really is no end in sight to the prolonged pricing opportunities revenue managers are experiencing.”