Estimated U.S. hotel gross operating profit per available room for July 2021 came in at 111 percent of the 2019 comparable, according to STR's latest monthly profit-and-loss data release. In addition to total GOP estimates above July 2019, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization came in at 116 percent of the prepandemic comparable. On a per-available-room basis, each of the key profitability metrics, aside from labor, came in higher than any month since February 2020.
GOPPAR reached $62.33 for the month, while total revenue per available room was $156.58. EBITDA per available room was $41.81, and labor costs per available room reached $46.24.
“It is first important to note that one, or even a few months, with higher GOP than 2019 does not mean the industry has recovered,” said Raquel Ortiz, STR assistant director of financial performance. “As we’ve noted recently in the top-line metrics, the industry is heading into the lower season as summer wraps up, but looking back, we see just how high the surge in leisure demand pushed U.S. profitability in recent months. There was also the inflation impact on room rates to consider. We would expect similar, perhaps a bit lower, results in August data before seeing a drop-off in September.
“The July numbers were less impressive when focusing in on just the major markets, which are mostly below 50 percent of 2019 revenue. However, like the rest of the country, those key metro areas are showing margins in line with 2019 because of leaner operations.”