by Calculated Risk on 8/07/2020 01:21:00 PM

From HotelNewsNow.com: STR: US hotel results for week ending 1 August

U.S. hotel performance data for the week ending 1 August showed slightly higher occupancy and room rates from the previous week, according to STR.

26 July through 1 August 2020 (percentage change from comparable week in 2019):

• Occupancy: 48.9% (-34.5%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$100.04 (-25.3%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$48.96 (-51.1%)

U.S. occupancy has risen week over week for 15 of the last 16 weeks, although growth in demand (room nights sold) has slowed.
emphasis added

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

As STR noted, the occupancy rate has increased week-to-week in "15 of the last 16 weeks". The increases in occupancy have slowed and are well below the level for this week last year of 75%.

Click on graph for larger image.

The red line is for 2020, dash light blue is 2019, blue is the median, and black is for 2009 (the worst year probably since the Great Depression for hotels).

According to STR, most of the improvement appears related to leisure travel as opposed to business travel. The leisure travel season usually peaks at the beginning of August (right now), and the occupancy declines sharply in the Fall.

Note: Y-axis doesn't start at zero to better show the seasonal change.