The U.S. hotel industry showed its highest performance levels in March 2021 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to data from STR. Occupancy for the month reached 54.6 percent, up from 45.3 percent in February. Average daily rate reached $106.08 and revenue per available room hit $57.87.
Occupancy and RevPAR were the highest for any month since February 2020, while ADR was the highest since March 2020. While year-over-year percentage changes show significant increases because of comparison with a pandemic-affected period in 2020, the country’s performance levels remained well below the prepandemic comparable of March 2019: occupancy (-20 percent), ADR (-19.7 percent) and RevPAR (-35.8 percent).
Top Markets
Among the top 25 markets, Tampa, Fla., experienced the highest occupancy level (77.1 percent), which was 12.2 percent below the market’s benchmark from 2019. The next highest occupancy level was in Miami (72.7 percent), which recorded the highest ADR ($248.26) and RevPAR ($180.36) levels. Miami’s ADR level was just 1.9 percent lower than the prepandemic comparable.
Markets with the lowest occupancy for the month included Boston (35.7 percent) and Minneapolis (36.1 percent).
Overall, the top 25 markets showed lower occupancy but higher ADR than all other markets.