Travel continues to move in a positive trend, according to the Mews Data Snap, a real-time measure of hospitality’s performance during the summer of 2023 (June, July, and August). The report compares this year’s data to summer 2022 to pinpoint how the hospitality sector is changing.
Based on data from Mews partners worldwide, the Mews Data Snap consists of hospitality’s performance across five key areas: occupancy, ADR and RevPar, online check-ins and upsells, and additional bookable spaces.
For the North American market in particular, key findings include:
- Travel continues to move in a positive trend: average occupancy for summer 2023 was 62 percent, up 5 percent year-over-year. June was the best-performing month, while August saw the highest percentage of rooms occupied.
- Increased rates didn’t deter consumers from traveling this summer: ADR and RevPAR saw clear, positive movement despite little change in occupancy. ADR rose 9 percent year-over-year ($25) to an average of $294, in part due to inflation among other factors. RevPAR saw a significant increase of 14percent year-over-year ($22) to $178, including on average $30 higher in June year-over-year.
- Travelers continue to embrace the convenience and instant gratification of online check-in and upgrades: while the number of guests utilizing online check-in remained relatively the same YOY (nearly 20 percent), more guests upgraded their reservations via online check-in, as upselling increased 31 percent year-over-year to $51 per upgrade. Top upgrades include early check-in, pet fees, late check-out, breakfast, and drinks or food upon arrival.
- Non-room revenue is proving to be an excellent diversification strategy: nearly 20 percent of hotels in North America are selling additional bookable spaces to day guests and visitors (such as parking lots and meeting rooms), a 69 percent increase year-over-year, with average revenue generated per space increasing 22 percent year-over-year (an average of $362 extra per reservation). Monthly additional bookable service revenue more than doubled year-over-year.
“It’s easy to talk about hospitality trends based on what we feel is happening, but there’s no substitute for real data,” Mews CEO Matt Welle said in a statement. “Not only can we see that people continue to return to travel, but the data shows that hoteliers are embracing the idea of hybrid hospitality and a more creative use of spaces and reaping the rewards."