Canada’s hotel industry showed lower occupancy but continued growth in average daily rate, according to CoStar’s January 2024 data.
January 2024 (percentage change from 2023):
- Occupancy: 49.6 percent (-1.7 percent)
- Average daily rate (ADR): CAD175.38 (+4.3 percent)
- Revenue per available room (RevPAR): CAD87.00 (+2.6 percent)
“Transient occupancy fell 3.7 percent year over year, with most of the decline taking place on the weekends, suggesting that individuals are pulling back on discretionary spending,” Laura Baxter, CoStar Group’s director of hospitality analytics for Canada, said in a statement.
“Warm weather and a lack of snow in popular ski areas contributed to the shortfalls as well, with particularly steep occupancy declines in resorts across Western Canada. Whistler and Banff hotels, for example, recorded occupancy declines of 9 percent and 12 percent, respectively. On the positive side of the spectrum, the overall hotel sector is outperforming metrics in the wider economy, with the room rate growth outpacing the 2.9 percent inflation reading.”
Among the provinces and territories, Manitoba recorded the highest January 2024 occupancy level (58.8 percent), which was 8.1 percent below 2023.
Among the major markets, Toronto saw the highest occupancy (61.4 percent), up 2.2 percent over January 2023.
The lowest occupancy among provinces was reported in Prince Edward Island (28.6 percent), down 20.5 percent against 2023. At the market level, the lowest occupancy was reported in Edmonton (+2.9 percent to 44.3 percent).
“The return of group and international travel is expected to be among the main drivers of improvement this year,” Baxter said. “These demand sources should benefit Canada’s largest cities to a greater degree than other location types, and therefore urban hotel performance growth will likely outpace the national forecast.”