US Hotels Post Highest Weekly Occupancy of the Year So Far
Weekend and Group Demand Are Bright Spots in a Slow Week
As the spring travel season approaches, U.S. hotel occupancy is blossoming week over week even as rate growth slows.
For the week ending Feb. 24, occupancy was 62%, the highest weekly occupancy of the year so far and up 2.8 percentage points from the prior week.
Like last year, the week included Presidents Day on Monday, which tends to slow travel. But compared to the same week in 2023, occupancy is down 2.1 percentage points. Year over year, weekly occupancy has been down every week of the year so far.
More than half of the loss in demand is coming from economy-class hotels. Occupancy has also dipped year over year in the upper-midscale segment, which accounts for a quarter of the gross demand loss by the industry.
Average daily rate growth stalled, increasing a scant 0.3% year over year following two exceptional weeks due to the Las Vegas Super Bowl.
