Industry Occupancy Up to 68.6% Quarter Ending 9/07
Smith Travel Research (STR) announced third quarter and September year-to-date 2007 results for the
OCTOBER 25, 2007. Industry occupancy improved to 68.6 percent in the three months ending September 2007, up 0.4 percent versus third quarter 2006. Third quarter average room rate gained 5.6 percent to $103.56 and revenue per available room (RevPAR) ---| the combination of occupancy and average room rate and a key industry productivity measure ---| increased 6.0 percent to $71.00.
In the first nine months of 2007, industry occupancy was 65.0 percent, flat versus same period last year. Average room rate rose 5.7 percent to $103.22, RevPAR also gained 5.7 percent to $67.13. September YTD industry room supply increased 1.2 percent and demand (room nights sold) also grew 1.2 percent, resulting in flat occupancy. Room revenue increased 7.0 percent in the first nine months of 2007 to $82 billion.
In the month of September 2006, occupancy declined 0.5 percent to 64.7 percent while average room rate improved 5.5 percent to $103.52. September REVPAR rose 4.9 percent to $66.94.
'September year-to-date industry performance was good', commented Mark Lomanno, President of Smith Travel Research. 'RevPar growth picked up in the third quarter - driven largely by stronger demand - and comps in the final three months of 2007 will be easier. We expect full year 2007 RevPar growth to be around 6 percent, better than our projection at the beginning of this year. If that forecast holds, industry RevPar will have increased over 30 percent in the last four years,' Lomanno added.
Smith Travel Research ---| the recognized leader in lodging industry tracking and analysis ---| provides regular industry reporting to all major North American chains. The company also provides daily performance reporting through its DaySTAR program and hotel profit and loss benchmarking through its annual HOST Study. STR recently purchased an interest in The Bench, a London based hotel benchmarking company. STR and Deloitte have also agreed to combine their hotel benchmarking practices outside North America.
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