- The U.S. national election temporarily dipped hotel performance, particularly in terms of Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR), though some markets impacted by recent hurricanes continued to grow.
- Despite the overall downturn, Global RevPAR, excluding the U.S., maintained strong growth, with Japan leading in RevPAR growth.
The U.S. hotel industry experienced a slump in performance, primarily due to the national elections. This resulted in a 3.5% drop in RevPAR, with the most significant declines happening on Monday and Tuesday. This downturn was felt most intensively in the Top 25 Markets, with RevPAR dropping by 4.7%. However, some markets like Las Vegas, Chicago, and Tampa reported RevPAR increases on election days.
The hotel industry also saw a reversal in the bifurcation trend of the past two years, with high-end hotels experiencing RevPAR declines and lower chain scales witnessing increases. The largest RevPAR drop was experienced by Upper Upscale hotels (-9.1%), while Economy chains saw the most significant increase (+2.9%).
The markets affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton continued to grow, with seven markets recording an 18.1% rise in RevPAR. Football games also contributed to RevPAR gains in several submarkets during the weekend. In contrast, group demand among Luxury and Upper Upscale hotels slowed by 16.8% due to the election.
Globally, sans the U.S., RevPAR advanced by 10.6%, marking the third consecutive week of double-digit growth. Japan was the top-performing country in RevPAR growth (+36.4%), driven exclusively by an increase in the Average Daily Rate (ADR). Room demand in China rose for the fourth consecutive week, but a decline in ADR led to a drop in RevPAR (-3.3%).
RevPAR is expected to rebound due to Thanksgiving being a week later this year, contributing to a positive performance during the compressed December holiday season. International markets are also projected to continue their strong, albeit decelerating, RevPAR growth.
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