Va. hotel revenues remain 51% lower than last year

Rising COVID-19 cases continue 'adverse impact' on lodging industry

Published December 16, 2020 by Sydney Lake

Virginia hotel revenues continue to decline by more than 50% when compared with last year, according to data released Wednesday from STR Inc., a CoStar Group division that provides weekly market data on the U.S. hospitality industry.

Hotel revenues in Virginia dropped by 51% and rooms sold declined by 33% last week, compared with the same week last year, unchanged from the previous week’s results. Compared with last year, the average daily rate (ADR) paid for hotel rooms dropped 27% to $76.64, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) fell to $29.36, a 51% decline.

“Performance of the hotels in the commonwealth during this week was in general almost the same as last week,” Professor Vinod Agarwal of Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy said in a statement. “Rising COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths in the recent weeks continue to have adverse impacts on this industry.”

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, 48% in Charlottesville and 33% in Hampton Roads. During the week of Nov. 29 through Dec. 5, revenues fell 70% in Northern Virginia, 42% in Charlottesville and 33% in Hampton Roads. The number of rooms sold in Northern Virginia is down by 53%, Charlottesville is down by 34% and Hampton Roads is down by 21%.

Williamsburg continues to be the hardest-hit locality in Hampton Roads, seeing a 58% decline in revenue, followed by Norfolk/Portsmouth with a 38% decline.