Canada’s hotel industry reported its highest monthly performance levels since the pandemic began, while US hotel performance continued to decline.

Even with improvement from previous months, the country’s performance levels remained well below pre-pandemic comparisons from July 2019:

• Occupancy: 54.5% (-27.6%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): CAD151.31 (-18.2%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): CAD82.53 (-40.7%)

The occupancy and RevPAR levels were the highest in Canada since February 2020, while the ADR level was the country’s highest since December 2019.

“Hotels in Canada saw a resurgence in demand in July, with key metrics reaching the strongest levels since the pandemic hit,” said Laura Baxter, CoStar Group’s director of hospitality analytics for Canada. CoStar Group is the parent company of STR.

“ADR was the standout metric, as it inched closer to 2019 levels and hoteliers reaped the rewards of high-paying transient leisure guests. Rate at hotels in small towns exceeded 2019 levels by 1%, which was the first indicator to reach pre-pandemic levels. Rates in resort locations also showed strong growth, reaching $251, up from $182 in June.

“August is typically the strongest month for Canada’s hotel industry, and this year will be no exception with month-to-date metrics already showing an improvement on July levels. Occupancy during the first two weeks was up 10 points to 64%. That occupancy figure includes international demand now that fully vaccinated Americans can cross the land border and inbound international air passengers have less restrictions upon arrival.

Among the provinces and territories, Prince Edward Island recorded the lowest July occupancy level (47.3%), which was 43.8% below the pre-pandemic comparable.

Among the major markets, Montreal saw the lowest occupancy (42.0%), which was a 47.5% decline from 2019.

The highest occupancy among provinces was reported in British Columbia (67.2%), down 18.8% against 2019. At the market level, the highest occupancy was reported in Vancouver (59.2%), which decreased 33.1% from 2019.

“STR’s updated forecast for the country shows RevPAR at $54 for 2021, a more positive outlook for the year due to less travel restrictions underpinned by a strong economy,” Baxter said.

“In line with seasonal trends, Q4 is expected to generate softer results than Q3, as hoteliers typically rely on business demand during the fall months. Based on the spike in COVID-19 cases, the expected pent-up corporate demand from the American and domestic source markets may be more muted than originally anticipated.”

U.S. hotel results for week ending 21 August

Reflecting seasonal demand patterns and concerns around the pandemic, U.S. hotel performance continued to decline from previous weeks, according to STR‘s latest data through 21 August.

15-21 August 2021 (percentage change from comparable week in 2019*):

• Occupancy: 63.7% (-9.1%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$135.77 (+5.1%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$86.43 (-4.5%)    

While none of the Top 25 Markets recorded an occupancy increase over 2019, Detroit came closest to its 2019 comparable (-0.7% to 69.3%).

San Francisco/San Mateo experienced the steepest decline in occupancy when compared with 2019 (-40.5% to 53.5%).

Miami reported the largest ADR increase over 2019 (+27.8% to US$181.66).

The largest RevPAR drops were in San Francisco/San Mateo (-58.2% to US$88.39) and Minneapolis (-43.6% to US$61.61).

*Due to the steep, pandemic-driven performance declines of 2020, STR is measuring recovery against comparable time periods from 2019.

STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for global hospitality sectors. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 15 countries with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, an international headquarters in London, and an Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. STR was acquired in October 2019 by CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces. For more information, please visit str.com