U.S. Hotels Performing Well in July, Atlanta Leading the Way

---

According to STR, the U.S. hotel industry reported positive results in the three key performance metrics during July 2014.

Overall, in year-over-year results, the U.S. hotel industry's occupancy was up 3.9 percent to 73.6 percent; its average daily rate rose 4.8 percent to US$117.81; and its revenue per available room increased 8.8 percent to US$86.71.

"Hotels in July saw the strongest demand of a single month ever, selling 113 million room nights," said Jan Freitag, senior VP of strategic development at STR. "RevPAR saw the second-highest growth rate of the year (+8.8 percent), trailing May's increase of 10.0 percent. Absolute occupancy this month was 73.6 percent, the third highest ever, and the highest since the mid-90s.

"When the industry sells on average over seven out of 10 rooms each and every night that can only mean one thing: pricing power," Freitag said. "Room rates increased 4.8 percent over last year, and given the strong demand fundamentals there really is no end in sight to the prolonged pricing opportunities revenue managers are experiencing."

Thirteen of the Top 25 Markets reported double-digit RevPAR growth, led by Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota-Wisconsin, with a gain of 19.5 percent to US$94.17. Denver, Colorado, followed with a RevPAR increase of 19.3 percent to US$106.89.

Atlanta, Georgia, reported the highest occupancy increase for the month, rising 7.9 percent to 76.3 percent, followed by Minneapolis/St. Paul (+7.3 percent to 80.0 percent). Anaheim/Santa Ana, California, reported the largest occupancy decrease, falling 2.0 percent to 87.3 percent.

Seven of the Top 25 Markets reported double-digit ADR increases. Seattle, Washington, recorded the highest ADR growth, rising 13.5 percent to US$160.65. Denver followed with a 13.2-percent increase to US$120.17.

None of the Top 25 Markets recorded an ADR or RevPAR decrease during the month.