Va. hotel revenue inching upward

Hampton Roads continues as top market in nation while other Va. markets struggle

Published August 19, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Hotel revenues in Virginia continued to incrementally improve last week, according to new data from STR Inc., a division of CoStar Group providing market data on the U.S. hospitality industry.

During the week of Aug. 9 through Aug. 15, hotel revenues in Virginia decreased by 44% and rooms sold declined by 32%, compared to the same week last year. The week before last saw a 45% decline in revenue and 32% decline in rooms sold as compared to the same week last year. The average daily rate (ADR) paid for hotel rooms dropped 18% to $95.76 last week, and RevPAR (a key lodging industry metric) fell to $48.02, a 43% decline.

Hotel revenues and rooms sold declined in most markets in Virginia, compared with the same time frame last year. Compared to the same week in 2019, revenues fell 62% in Northern Virginia, 37% in Charlottesville and 31% in Hampton Roads. During the week of Aug. 2 through Aug. 8 revenues fell 65% in Northern Virginia, 43% in Charlottesville and 33% in Hampton Roads.

The number of rooms sold in Northern Virginia is down by 50%, while the Charlottesville market held on at 30% and the Hampton Roads market declined by 19%.

However, the Hampton Roads region continues to fare well when compared nationally. It again held the highest occupancy rate and RevPAR among the top 25 markets in the U.S., which it has done since the week ending June 27. The occupancy rate in Hampton Roads last week was 65.4% and RevPAR reached $74.06. Williamsburg (part of the Hampton Roads region) continues to perform poorly, however, with hotel revenue dropping by 68%. The Williamsburg market has performed the worst during the past four weeks.

“We continue to see some improvement in room revenues as well as in rooms sold in Hampton Roads almost every week over the last several weeks,” Professor Vinod Agarwal of Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy said in a statement. “However, given that we have more restrictions in Hampton Roads due to rising infection cases, effective July 31, we are more likely to see a slower recovery for Hampton Road hotels in coming weeks.”