Hotel revenues stay low as pandemic enters eighth month

Moving into the eighth month of the pandemic, Virginia hotel revenues continue to decline when compared to last year, according to data from STR Inc., a CoStar Group division that provides weekly market data on the U.S. hospitality industry.

For the week of Oct. 25 through Oct. 31, hotel revenues in Virginia decreased by 45% and rooms sold declined by 28%, compared with the same week last year. The week prior saw a 50% decrease in revenue compared to 2019 and a 30% decline in rooms sold. Compared with last year, the average daily rate (ADR) paid for hotel rooms dropped 23% to $83.62, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) fell to $38.37, a 44% decline.

Hotel revenues and rooms sold declined in most markets in Virginia, compared with the same time frame last year. Compared with the same week in 2019, revenues fell 63% in Northern Virginia, 35% in Charlottesville and 26% in Hampton Roads. During the week of Oct. 18 through Oct. 24, revenues fell 72% in Northern Virginia and 30% in Charlottesville and Hampton Roads. The number of rooms sold in Northern Virginia is down by 46%, Charlottesville is down by 21% and Hampton Roads is down by 17%. 

Despite continued drops in revenue and number of rooms sold, Hampton Roads continues to fare well compared to national rates. The region had the fourth highest occupancy rate among the top 25 markets in the nation. Reaching 54.1% for the week before last, the region reported the highest occupancy rate among the top 25 markets.

Williamsburg continues to be the hardest-hit locality in Hampton Roads, though, seeing a 38% decline in revenue last week, followed by Norfolk/Portsmouth with a 35% decline and Newport News/Hampton with a 27% decrease.

“Performance of the hotels in the commonwealth during this week was in general slightly better than last week,” Professor Vinod Agarwal of Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy said in a statement. “COVID-19 continues to have adverse impacts on this industry.”

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