Through Q3 2022, the US hotel industry has exceeded 2019 (pre pandemic) RevPAR levels by 6.4 percent, based on data from STR. The recovery narrative continues to be centered around room rates.While occupancy through Q3 2022 was 3.8 points below the same period in 2019, ADR had increased 12.8 percent.
Following over two years of travel constraints, the US government significantly eased restrictions earlier this summer. As of June 12, 2022 air passengers were no longer required to get tested for COVID-19 (no more than 24 hours in advance), show a negative test result, or show documentation of recovery from the virus, before boarding a flight to the United States, regardless of vaccination status or citizenship. In addition, as of October 3, 2022, the CDC no longer maintains a country-by-country list of travel advisories related to COVID-19.
The Fed’s continued increases in their policy rate has caused uncertainty in the public markets, affecting lodging demand in Q4. We now expect annual occupancy for US hotels this year to increase slightly less than in our May 2022 outlook, increasing to 62.8 percent. Since July 2021, average daily room rates surpassed comparable 2019 levels in every month but one (January 2022 missed by $0.35). Since March 2022, RevPAR has exceeded comparable 2019 levels. We now expect average daily room rates to increase 19.3 percent for the year, with resultant RevPAR up 30.3 percent — approximately 108 percent of pre-pandemic levels, on a nominal dollar basis.
“After going through the worst shock to our economy since the Great Depression, US hotels will see RevPAR finish at record highs this year, but economic headwinds are expected to continue to strengthen in 2023, threatening the pace of recovery.”
PwC Hospitality Directions US is a near-term outlook for the US lodging sector, commonly used by industry decision-makers and stakeholders to better understand the impact of policy and other macro-environmental factors on the sector’s operating performance. Our outlook includes metrics for the overall sector as well as for the chain scales, and is used by our clients for