Va. hotel revenues stay at steady decline

Rooms sold also remain low

Published October 28, 2020 by Sydney Lake

As the pandemic surges on, Virginia hotel revenues remain at a steady decline when compared to last year, 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. 18 through Oct. 24, hotel revenues in Virginia decreased by 50% and rooms sold declined by 30%, compared with the same week last year. The week prior saw a 50% decrease in revenue compared to 2019 and a 31% decline in rooms sold. Compared with last year, the average daily rate (ADR) paid for hotel rooms dropped 29% to $86.81, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) fell to $44.36, a 50% decline.

Hotel revenues and rooms sold declined in most markets in Virginia, compared with the same time frame last year. Compared with the same week in 2019, revenues fell 72% in Northern Virginia and 30% in both Charlottesville and Hampton Roads. During the week of Oct. 11 through Oct. 17, revenues fell 70% in Northern Virginia, 37% in Charlottesville and 28% in Hampton Roads. The number of rooms sold in Northern Virginia is down by 52%, Charlottesville is down by 16% and Hampton Roads is down by 19%. 

Despite continued drops in revenue and number of rooms sold, Hampton Roads continues to fare well compared to national rates. Reaching 54.1% 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 6. 

Williamsburg continues to be the hardest-hit locality in Hampton Roads, though, seeing a 56% decline in revenue last week, followed by Newport News/Hampton with a 37% decline and Norfolk/Portsmouth with a 33% decrease.

“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.”

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