by Calculated Risk on 2/23/2012 06:36:00 PM

From HotelNewsNow.com: New Orleans benefits from Mardi Gras visitors

Overall, the U.S. hotel industry reported a 1.5% increase in occupancy to 59.7%, a 2.9% increase in ADR to $102.59 and a 4.4% increase in RevPAR to $61.27.

Hotel occupancy and RevPAR have improved from 2011, but are still below the per-recession levels.

Note: ADR: Average Daily Rate, RevPAR: Revenue per Available Room.

The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using a four week average.

Click on graph for larger image.

The red line is for 2012, yellow is for 2011, blue is "normal" and black is for 2009 - the worst year since the Great Depression for hotels.

Better than 2011, but the 4-week average of the occupancy rate is still below normal. Looking forward, business travel usually increases in the March to May period - and then increases during the summer with all the leisure travel.

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