Is YOUR business back to pre-COVID-19 numbers?
By no means are we saying that COVID-19 is over, but as we reflect back on 2022, the hotel industry tells us an optimistic story.
This month, we will look at the 2022 hotel stats for our region and compare them to the pre-COVID-19 hotel stats. First, by looking at the demand for hotel rooms in our region as a whole, 2022 finished the year with an occupancy percentage of 71.5% vs 2019’s occupancy percentage of 74.1% – down by a small difference of 2.6%. Not only is it a relief to see travel demand returning, but the data also shows us that hotel occupancy, within our region, slightly surpassed 2019 occupancy levels (for the period of May thru December 2022, as shown in chart below) and averaged at 78.8% full occupancy vs 78.1% when compared to the same time period of May thru December in 2019. Despite the various factors that could have discouraged visitation into the region (i.e., inflation, gas prices, etc.), visitors still decided to make our region their destination of choice. These percentages are calculated based on hotel data from 83% of the hotel rooms in the region, and provides a really good representation of the fixed roof accommodation sector for the region overall. (Complete reports available in links at bottom of page.)

The chart above shows RTO6 monthly Hotel Occupancy % of 2022 vs 2019 (Pre-COVID-19)
Data source: STR Hotel Data for RTO6 2022.
In addition to occupancy levels, we also looked at the Revenue, Average Daily Rate (ADR) and the Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR), as shown in the chart below. With the increase in pent up demand for travel, along with the impact of inflation, it is no surprise that these other measurements also saw sharp increases in comparison to 2019 levels. Around the beginning of April/May 2022 is when these values started to surpass 2019 levels, and by end of 2022, Revenue was 20% higher than 2019, ADR 15% higher, and RevPAR also higher by 10%.

The chart above shows RTO6 monthly Hotel Revenue, ADR and RevPAR of 2022 vs 2019
Data source: STR Hotel Data for RTO6 2022.
Although this insight comes from only one dataset, we will continue to look at other data sources to reflect on how the visitor economy, in our region, changed in 2022, and look forward to seeing how 2023 shapes up. This includes using mobility data to tell our regional story about the visitor economy and visitation to our various stakeholders.
What about you? How did 2022 impact your business?
We would love to hear from you, share any success stories that you might have had, or collaborate with you in telling OUR collective story to help increase tourism in the region, and offer any assistance with data (and other) to help your business become more successful.
If you have collected postal codes from your visitors or would like to utilize our mobility data for your business, please reach out to your region’s Industry Relations Manager or contact Tom, our Research & Development Manager, directly.
Hotel Stats for: