Hotel industry recovery ‘a long way off’

Va. hotel revenues continue at steady decline compared to last year

Published October 21, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Virginia hotel revenues continue at a steady decline 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. 11 through Oct. 17, hotel revenues in Virginia decreased by 50% and rooms sold declined by 31%, compared with the same week last year. Compared with last year, the average daily rate (ADR) paid for hotel rooms dropped 27% to $87.75, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) fell to $44.39, a 49% decline.

“Hotels throughout the commonwealth continue to struggle,” says Eric Terry, president of the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging and Travel Association. “Most have now permanently laid off staff with a recovery a long way off and little relief coming from government.”

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 70% in Northern Virginia, 37% in Charlottesville and 28% in Hampton Roads. During the week of Oct. 4 through Oct. 10, revenues fell 65% in Northern Virginia, 35% in Charlottesville and 25% in Hampton Roads. The number of rooms sold in Northern Virginia is down by 51%, Charlottesville is down by 15% and Hampton Roads is down by 18%. 

Despite continued drops in revenue, Hampton Roads continued to fare well compared to national rates. Reaching 53.7% for the most recent week, the region has had the highest occupancy rate among the top 25 markets in the nation since the week ending June 27. 

Williamsburg continues to be the hardest-hit locality in Hampton Roads, though, seeing a 54% decline in revenue last week, followed by Norfolk/Portsmouth with a 29% decline and Newport News/Hampton at a 28% decline.

“Performance of the hotels in the commonwealth during this week was in general slightly worse 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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