Hotel Industry Posts Decline In January

The US hotel industry posted significant decline in the month of January, this year. The reason is obviously the economic downturn, which compelled people to cut their expenditures on hotels and hospitality.

The situation is same with many industries, due to the recession. STR releases the statistics for the decline in the hotel industry performances. According to the report, the industry’s occupancy rates fell by 10.7 percent at the end of January 2009 compared to January 2008. It was 51.5 percent in 2008 but declined to 45.9 percent in 2009.

There was a remarkable decline even in the average daily rate. It dropped by 5.2 percent to US$100.66 in 2009 compared to US$106.14 in 2008. Revenue per available room per month also declined by 15.3 percent from US$54.62 in 2008 to US$46.24 in 2009.

Of the top 25 markets, Washington DC and St. Petersburg, Florida were the only two markets that reported an increase in all three key performance segments.