Va. hotel revenues continue to suffer

Last week's lodging revenues down 46% compared to same time last year

Published October 14, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Virginia hotels continue to see significant revenue declines compared to pre-pandemic times, 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. 4 through Oct. 10, hotel revenues in Virginia were down 46% and rooms sold were down 29% compared to the same week in 2019. The previous week saw a 43% decline in revenue and a 27% decrease in rooms sold. Compared to last year, the average daily rate (ADR) paid for hotel rooms dropped 24% to $86.68, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) fell to $44.76, a 46% decline.

Hotel revenues and rooms sold declined in most Virginia markets compared with the same time frame last year. Compared to the same week in 2019, revenues fell 65% in Northern Virginia, 35% in Charlottesville and 25% in Hampton Roads. During the week of Sept. 27 through Oct. 3, revenues fell 61% in Northern Virginia, 38% in Charlottesville and 25% in Hampton Roads. The number of rooms sold was down by 48% in Northern Virginia, by 10% in Charlottesville and 16% in Hampton Roads.

Despite the pandemic, Hampton Roads continues to rank among the top lodging markets in the nation. Reaching 54.7% 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 48% decline in revenue last week, followed by Norfolk/Portsmouth with a 28% decline and Newport News/Hampton at a 22% 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, but the performance metrics show signs of a slow recovery.”