NEW YORK— The PricewaterhouseCoopers’ forecast for the U.S. lodging industry this summer season is for record demand, with an average of 3.21 million occupied room nights per night between Memorial Day Weekend and Labor Day Weekend, a 4.7% increase over 2004 and a 6.2% increase over 2000.
As a result, PricewaterhouseCoopers is predicting that summer occupancy will be 71.4%, the highest since 2000 when occupancy was 72.1% (according to Smith Travel Research), but reflecting a strong 2.4 occupancy point increase over 2004 summer occupancy of 69.0%. Supply has shown an increase of 6.7% since 2000.
Summer room rates will be 4.5% higher than last year and 6.3% higher than 2000, achieving record highs, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
RevPAR (revenue per available room) this summer is expected to increase 8.1% over last summer and be 5.4% higher than 2000.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers “Summer Lodging Forecast” estimates that the Memorial Day Weekend occupancy level will be 73.9%, the highest since 2000, when occupancy reached 74.2%. Fourth of July weekend occupancy will reach 70.6%, a 4.7% increase over 2004. Labor Day Weekend occupancy is estimated to reach 72.3%, 2.5% higher than the level reached last year and a return to the level achieved in 2000.
According to Bjorn Hanson, Ph.D., global industry leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers Hospitality & Leisure Practice, “room rates are increasing as hotel executives, especially in urban and resort markets, respond to the strength of demand and try to ‘catch up’ from the declines and small increases of 2001, 2002 and 2003.
“Adding to rate growth are the response to third-party and ‘merchant model’ control of some pricing by the larger brands, with more bookings through brand proprietary sites, and improved revenue and yield management systems that maximize revenue, especially in high occupancy periods,” Hanson said.
Many observers declare that an especially strong summer will usher in a very respectable finish to the full year as leisure travel remains the lever to spur the hotel industry as it continues on its path to healthy returns.
