by Calculated Risk on 8/19/2010 10:01:00 PM

Hotel occupancy is one of several industry specific indicators I follow ...

From HotelNewsNow.com: STR: Chain-scale segments report RevPAR boost

Overall, the industry’s occupancy increased 6.9% to 68.3%, ADR rose 1.9% to US$98.88, and RevPAR increased 9.0% to US$67.52.

The following graph shows the four week moving average for the occupancy rate by week for 2008, 2009 and 2010 (and a median for 2000 through 2007).

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

Notes: the scale doesn't start at zero to better show the change. The graph shows the 4-week average, not the weekly occupancy rate.

On a 4-week basis, occupancy is up 6.8% compared to last year (the worst year since the Great Depression) and 3.7% below the median for 2000 through 2007.

The occupancy rate is almost back to the levels of 2008 - and 2008 was a tough year for the hotel industry!

NOTE: The supply of rooms in the survey is up just over 2% from last year. The increase in the occupancy rate is from an increase in demand - although this is still fairly weak.

Data Source: Smith Travel Research, Courtesy of HotelNewsNow.com