Va. hotel revenues continue to improve slightly

Hampton Roads is seeing a slowdown, possibly due to governor's Aug. 1 order

Published August 26, 2020 by Kate Andrews

Virginia hotel revenues improved slightly last week, STR Inc. reported Wednesday.

During the week of Aug. 16-22, hotel revenues decreased by 42% and rooms sold declined by 31% compared to the same week last year, but this marks a small improvement from the previous week, which saw a 44% decline in revenue and 32% decrease in rooms sold, according to the CoStar Group division that provides weekly market data on the U.S. hospitality industry.

The average daily rate (ADR) paid for hotel rooms dropped 16% to $97.55 compared to last year, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) fell to $48.82, a 41% decline.

Hotel revenue and rooms sold across the state were still well below last year’s rates, but Hampton Roads continues to hold on to the highest occupancy rates among the nation’s top 25 markets, with 61.2% occupancy last week and 64.2% occupancy since the week of June 21-27. Its RevPAR level, however, fell to third place in the nation last week at $67.97, behind San Diego and Los Angeles. It maintains first place over the last four weeks, though, with an average of $72.42.

Compared to the same week in 2019, revenues fell 60% in Northern Virginia, 51% in Charlottesville and 34% in Hampton Roads. During the week of Aug. 9-15, revenues fell 62% in Northern Virginia, 37% in Charlottesville and 31% in Hampton Roads. Williamsburg continues to suffer the worst losses in the state, with hotel revenue having fallen 70% compared to this week last year, and rooms sold declining by 56%.

“Performance of the hotels in Hampton Roads during the current week was in general worse than last week,” Professor Vinod Agarwal of Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy said in a statement. “It appears that additional restrictions imposed in Hampton Roads, due to rising infection cases, have started to affect the recovery for Hampton Roads hotels.”

On Aug. 1, the governor enacted more restrictions on Hampton Roads restaurants after the region saw a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, which was attributed to people gathering in large numbers at restaurants, bars and house parties. Gov. Ralph Northam ordered no gatherings larger than 50 people, restaurants cannot sell or serve alcohol after 10 p.m., and they must close by midnight until the order is rescinded.

In recent weeks, the number of new cases has gone down in parts of the region, including Virginia Beach and Norfolk, but Portsmouth, Chesapeake and the Western Tidewater Health District continue to report positivity rates above 10%.