Mainland China’s hotel industry surpassed its 2019 comparable in Lunar New Year average daily rate (ADR) even with substantially lower occupancy, according to preliminary data from STR.

The country’s ADR reached CNY766.95 during this year’s holiday period (31 January-6 February), which was 9.6% higher than the pre-pandemic comparable from the festival period in 2019 (CNY699.47).

“More significant recovery of ADR aligns with our expectations for this year’s Lunar New Year period, with overall rates driven by the upper classes,” said Christine Liu, STR’s regional manager for North Asia.

“Historically, Lunar New Year has depressed demand in the tier 1 markets, with most travelers visiting family or vacationing to suburban or rural areas. This year is obviously unique with the Beijing Olympics and continued COVID restrictions around the country.”

On Wednesday, 2 February, the market’s ADR peaked at CNY830.21. Daily occupancy in the market sat in the 30% range for most of the holiday period then rose to as high as 36.6% on Friday, 4 February. That was up from the comparable day in 2021 (34.5%) but substantially below 2019 (71.4%).

All of STR’s COVID-19 analysis can be found here.