STR Reports US Hotel Industry Performance for September 2013

According to data from STR, the U.S. hotel industry reported positive results in the three key performance metrics during September 2013.

Overall, the U.S. hotel industry’s occupancy slightly rose 0.3% to 63.4%, ADR was up 3.3% to US$111.03, and RevPAR increased 3.6% to US$70.36.

Year-on-year demand grew 0.9% to 94 million room nights sold.

Jan Freitag, senior VP at STR, chalked up the hotel industry’s September performance in part to a quirk in the calendar.

“This dramatic slowdown of demand growth can be partially explained by the loss of one Saturday this year versus last year,” Freitag said. “But there is no doubt that slowing group travel has taken its toll on the results during September, which is a historically strong meeting month.”

Group occupancy declined 1.1% for upper-end hotels, and Freitag said this drop stands in contrast to a 1.2% increase in transient occupancy.

Among the Top 25 Markets, Nashville, Tennessee, reported the largest occupancy increase, rising 9.7% to 71.4%. Denver, Colorado, followed with a 9.3% increase to 81.0%. New Orleans, Louisiana, reported the largest decrease in occupancy, as it fell 20.2% to 58.7%.

Three Top 25 Markets achieved double-digit ADR increases: Oahu Island, Hawaii (+13.2% to US$203.11); San Francisco/San Mateo, California (+11.8% to US$217.62); and Nashville (+10.7% to US$107.08). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-New Jersey (-0.4% to US$122.21), and Norfolk-Virginia Beach, Virginia (-0.3% to US$85.52), reported slight decreases for the month.

Five Top 25 Markets experienced RevPAR increases of more than 10%: Nashville (+21.5% to US$76.50); Denver (+16.1% to US$87.72); Houston, Texas (+15.3% to US$67.60); San Francisco/San Mateo (+13.6% to US$194.46); and Oahu Island, Hawaii (+12.9% to US$171.13). New Orleans reported the largest RevPAR decrease, as it fell 18.0% to US$70.89.