U.S. Hotel Sector Enjoys Performance Gains in Q2

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According to STR, the U.S. hotel industry reported increases in all three key performance metrics for second quarter 2012 in year-over-year measurements.

The industry's occupancy increased 3.1 percent to 65.1 percent, average daily rate rose 4.7 percent to US$106.41 and revenue per available room was up 7.9 percent to US$69.32.

"The U.S. hotel industry continued to rebound and posted a healthy second-quarter performance," said Bobby Bowers, senior VP of operations at STR. "RevPAR increased 7.9 percent, fueled primarily by ADR growth of 4.7 percent--the best quarterly ADR gain since first quarter 2008. RevPAR has now moved higher in nine consecutive quarters. Second quarter demand grew 3.5 percent and supply inched ahead 0.4 percent, pushing occupancy up 3.1 percent. We anticipate a continuation of these trends in the second half, though probably at a somewhat slower pace."

Among the Top 25 Markets, Houston, Texas (+9.3 percent to 68.6 percent), and St. Louis, Missouri-Illinois (+9.3 percent to 69.5 percent), reported the largest occupancy increases. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota-Wisconsin, fell 0.9 percent in occupancy to 67.3 percent, posting the largest decrease in that metric.

Two markets experienced ADR increases of more than 10 percent: San Francisco/San Mateo, California (+11.9 percent to US$166.23), and Oahu Island, Hawaii (+10.1 percent to US$176.71). Washington, D.C., ended the quarter virtually flat in ADR with a 0.1-percent decrease to US$153.96.

Nine of the Top 25 Markets achieved double-digit RevPAR increases in the second quarter. Oahu Island lead the increases with an 18.4-percent rise to US$144.54, followed by San Francisco/San Mateo (+15.0 percent to US$138.63) and Los Angeles-Long Beach, California (+14.4 percent to US$100.82). None of the top markets reported a RevPAR decrease for the quarter.