The U.S. hotel industry in October saw year-over-year gains
in both occupancy and average daily rate, according to STR. Occupancy rose 0.8
percent to 69.9 percent, while ADR increased 2.7 percent to $133.81. The
October results provided some reassurance to the U.S. hotel industry after a
disappointing September, something mentioned by Marriott International
president and CEO Arne Sorenson during the company's recent
earnings call. STR SVP of lodging insights Jan Freitag said the hotel
industry is on track to continue to break records and "at the end of 2018,
all KPI's should reach the highest levels ever seen." Nevertheless,
Freitag said, pace of growth is expected to slow and STR's projected 2019 ADR
increases, 2.3 percent overall, "are only in line with the expected rate
of inflation." Among the top 25 markets by hotel supply, only New Orleans
saw a double-digit increase in occupancy, 10.2 percent to 77.1, and San
Francisco/San Mateo posted the greatest increase in ADR, 7.3 percent to $276.19.
Owing to tough 2017 comparisons from Hurricane Harvey recovery, Houston
reported the greatest declines in ADR, down 7.7 percent to $108.09, and
occupancy, down 22.8 percent to 64.7 percent.