Hotel industry may see numbers on the rise in coming weeks across Virginia and Hampton Roads

Posted: May 13, 2020 / 04:36 PM MDT

Updated: May 13, 2020 / 11:58 PM MDT

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The Old Dominion University Dragas Center for Economic Analysis released new data on Wednesday that shows Virginia and Hampton Roads hotels may see slight increases in hotel revenue as stays may begin to increase over the next few weeks.

The hotel industry across the state was hit hard during the pandemic since heavily traveled areas and tourist spots saw a major decline in revenue due to lack of vacationing and business trips. Economists at ODU predict this may be over soon, and numbers may be on the rise.

“Hotel Revenues and rooms sold have declined in every major market in Virginia, and we expect these declines to get smaller in the coming weeks,” according to the ODU Dragas Center.

This information comes shortly after Governor Ralph Northam announced the Forward Virginia blueprint to move the state towards reopening and potentially entering phase one on May 15.

According to STR data released, hotel revenues are down 77%, and rooms sold are down by 59% since this time last year. Both percent values are marginally down from the data reported last week.

In some instances, data shows that the Average Daily Rate paid for a hotel room during the week of May 3 to May 9 dropped by 42% which is the same percentage reported last week. The Revenue Per Available Room dropped by 75% which is one percent lower than last week.

That is putting some hotel stays at less than $71.14 a room — which is a slight increase from recent data.

The data suggests in Hampton Roads, occupancy and RevPAR numbers may have been at much lower percentages if some hotels did not reduce the supply of available rooms.

In Hampton Roads — for the week of May 3 when compared to the first week of March — occupancy is down by 8%, available rooms declined by 23.4% in Williamsburg, 6.4% in Norfolk and Portsmouth, and by 5.9% in Virginia Beach.

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 53%, ADR by 43%, and RevPAR by 73%.

Data shows that hotel revenue fell 91% in Williamsburg; 76% in Virginia Beach; 68% in Norfolk and Portsmouth; 46% in Chesapeake and Suffolk; and 58% in Newport News and Hampton since this time last year.

Over the last four weeks, the data also shows that the Williamsburg hotel market continues to have the poorest performance. The city led with declines in occupancy by 81%, ADR by 58%, RevPAR by 92%, room revenues by 94%, and rooms sold by 86%.

“We expect to see an improvement in room revenues as well in rooms sold over the coming weeks,” said Professor Vinod Agarwal of the Dragas Center. “We should brace ourselves for a slower rebound as the state and nation reopen from COVID-19, however. It will take time for business and leisure travelers to fill rooms again.”