Va. hotel revenue declines worsen

All major markets facing setbacks

Published July 15, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Hotel revenue declines have worsened during the past week, despite the state operating under Phase Three of Gov. Ralph Northam’s “Forward Virginia” plan, which has loosened some gathering and hospitality restrictions.

Hotel revenues and rooms sold declined in every major market in Virginia, compared with the same time frame last year, according to new data from STR Inc., a division of CoStar Group providing market data on the hospitality industry. Compared to the same week in 2019, revenues fell 70% in Northern Virginia, 65% in Charlottesville and 34% in Hampton Roads. 

However, during the week of June 28 through July 4, revenues fell 55% in the Northern Virginia market, 47% in Charlottesville and 27% in Hampton Roads.

“Despite a slight setback from the previous week, we continue to see improvement in room revenues, as well as in rooms sold this week over the last few weeks,” Professor Vinod Agarwal of Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy, said in a statement. “We should brace ourselves for a continued slow rebound as the nation and the commonwealth largely reopens from COVID-19, however. It will take time for business and leisure travelers to fill rooms again.”

During the week of July 5 through July 11, hotel revenues in Virginia decreased by 50% and rooms sold declined by 38% when compared to the same week last year. The average daily rate (ADR) paid for hotel rooms dropped 19% to $94.48, and revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key lodging industry metric, fell to $43.92, a 49% decline.

Nationally, however, the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area was the only top 25 market in the U.S. to reach a 60% occupancy level, according to STR data. That’s only 6.6% lower than the average U.S. occupancy rate for the year of 2019.

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