Hampton Roads hotel occupancy rates still climbing keeping the region in top 25 markets nationwide

Posted: Aug 5, 2020 / 08:34 PM MDT

Updated: Aug 5, 2020 / 08:34 PM MDT

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Old Dominion University’s Dragas Center for Economic Analysis released new STR data on Wednesday that shows Hampton Roads continues to have the highest occupancy rate and Revenue Per Available Room among the top 25 markets in the nation.

According to the economists at ODU, when comparing the week of July 26 to August 1 in 2019 to this year, the overall hotel revenue has decreased by 46%, and rooms sold dropped by 35% in Virginia. This puts Hampton Roads in a top spot for the current week as well as for the last four weeks.

“We continue to see some improvement in room revenues as well as in rooms sold in Hampton Roads almost every week over the last several weeks,” said Professor Vinod Agarwal of the Dragas Center.

“However, given that we have more restrictions in Hampton Roads due to rising infection cases, effective July 31, and that travelers from Virginia arriving in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut must self-quarantine for 14 days, effective July 22, we are more likely to see deterioration in the performance of hotels in coming weeks.”

The average daily rate for some hotel stays in Virginia is down by about 18% putting them at less than $95.33 a room.

The occupancy rate in Hampton Roads was 64.1% for the current week and 63.9% for the last four weeks. Likewise, RevPAR reached $74.37 for the current week and $75.27 for the last four weeks.

San Diego, California, had the second-highest RevPAR of $68.85 for the current week and $64.34 for the last four weeks.

The overall occupancy rate of hotels in Hampton Roads for the past four weeks — when compared with the same time last year — shows a decline by 21%, ADR by 13%, and RevPAR by 32%.

Hotel revenue fell 75% in Williamsburg, 21% in Virginia Beach, 27% in Norfolk and Portsmouth, and 18% in Chesapeake and Suffolk, and 27% in Newport News and Hampton since this time last year.

Over the last four weeks and since the pandemic began, data shows that the Williamsburg hotel market has consistently had the poorest performance. The city led with declines in occupancy by 56%, ADR by 35%, RevPAR by 71%, room revenues by 75%, and rooms sold by 61%.