The Distrikt Hotel in New York is part of Choice’s Ascend Collection. Photo by Barb DeLollis.
More evidence that consumers will see hotel rates continue to rise: U.S. hotels sold more than 113 room nights in July, making it “strongest single demand month ever,” hotel industry analyst Jan Freitag tells us on Hotel News Now. Freitag’s a senior veep with industry tracker STR.
How many rooms is 113 million? Well, it’s the equivalent of one in three Americans staying in a hotel based on our population of 317 million, he notes. Demand coupled with other factors means the power is in the hotel industry’s hands when it comes to pricing.
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“There really is no end in sight to the prolonged pricing opportunities hotel revenue managers are experiencing,” Freitag said.
The industry’s July by the numbers, according to STR:
- It’s nearly 5 million more rooms in a year-over-year comparison
- It’s about 6.5 million more than in June
- Industry’s revenue per available room jumped 8.8%, the second best jump of the year
- The growth of new rooms again came in at less than 1%, the 44th consecutive month
- U.S. hotels filled an average of 73.6% of rooms, the third highest ever and the highest since the mid 1990s
- Room rates jumped 4.8%, or $5.35
Readers: What are you seeing in the U.S. when it comes to rates at Marriotts, Hiltons, Sheratons, Hyatts and other hotels?
