Va. hotel revenue is still down by more than 50% from 2019

COVID-19 spikes continue to impact industry

Published December 9, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Despite the fast-approaching holiday season, Virginia hotel revenues continue to decline when compared with last year, according to data from STR Inc., a CoStar Group division that provides weekly market data on the U.S. hospitality industry.

While COVID-19 cases spiked during the week of Nov. 29 through Dec. 5, hotel revenues in Virginia dropped by 51% and rooms sold declined by 33%, compared with the same week last year. The week prior saw a 34% decrease in revenue compared to 2019 and a 24% decline in rooms sold. Compared with last year, the average daily rate (ADR) paid for hotel rooms dropped 27% to $76.27, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) fell to $28.68, a 51% decline.

Hotel revenues and rooms sold declined in most markets in Virginia last week, compared with the same time frame last year. Compared with the same week in 2019, revenues fell 70% in Northern Virginia, 42% in Charlottesville and 33% in Hampton Roads. During the week of Nov. 22 through Nov. 28, revenues fell 46% in Northern Virginia, 42% in Charlottesville and 23% in Hampton Roads. The number of rooms sold in Northern Virginia is down by 53%, Charlottesville is down by 29% and Hampton Roads is down by 21%. 

Williamsburg continues to be the hardest-hit locality in Hampton Roads, seeing a 60% decline in revenue last week, followed by Norfolk/Portsmouth with a 33% decline.

“Performance of the hotels in the commonwealth during this week was in general much worse than last week,” Professor Vinod Agarwal of Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy said in a statement. “Continuing spikes in COVID-19 cases in the recent weeks have adversely impacted this industry.”

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