Hotel Room Revenues on the Upswing

Jackie Binion | 5 October 2006 |

Here’s an interesting fact: U.S. hotels marked a 3.1 percent increase in room revenue for the week ending September 30 according to recent findings of Smith Travel Research. This increase is over the same week in 2005.

This figure is derived from a combination of occupancy rates and room rates. Hotels occupancy rates for that week were at 66.2 percent, which was a decrease of 3.1 percent. However, room rates had risen to an average of $98.68 a night, a 6.4 percent increase. The end result of these changes was a 3.1 percent increase in revenue per available room. This percentage represents $65.34 in revenue per room.

All of this is a great indication of how strongly the industry as a whole is performing. Although most of the hotels included in the survey are major players, this is great news for all U.S. hotels. Why not raise your rates enough to gain in this thriving market and still remain competitive.

This data was taken from a survey performed by Smith Travel Research. Smith Travel Research is a lodging industry data provider of hotel performance, occupancy and revenue, average daily rates and revenue per available room. Some of this data is available at their website while other reports are available for a fee dependent on the information.

Jackie Binion - Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc.