The U.S. hotel industry reported positive results in the three key performance metrics during January 2018, according to data from STR.

In a year-over-year comparison with January 2017, the industry posted the following:
•Occupancy: +0.9% to 54.5%
•Average daily rate (ADR): +2.0% to US$123.33
•Revenue per available room (RevPAR): +2.9% to US$67.17

“The industry started 2018 just like it ended 2017—with each of the key performance metrics at record levels,” said Jan Freitag, STR’s senior VP of lodging insights. “Year-over-year RevPAR growth remained modest and driven primarily by ADR, which increased at least 2% for the fourth month in a row. Supply grew at a healthy 2% again, but a 2.9% rise in demand was more than enough to counter that, even though it was the lowest demand growth figure in the U.S. since August.”

Freitag also noted that RevPAR has now increased year over year for 95 consecutive months in the U.S.

Among the Top 25 Markets, Houston, Texas, experienced the only double-digit increase in occupancy (+14.6% to 63.9%) and the largest rise in RevPAR (+18.0% to US$68.40)

Super Bowl LII host Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota-Wisconsin, posted the only double-digit lift in ADR (+10.5% to US$117.25), which drove the month’s second-highest jump in RevPAR (+16.5% to US$65.09).

Orlando, Florida, reported the second-largest increase in ADR (+8.9% to US$135.96), resulting in a double-digit rise in RevPAR (+14.1% to US$107.07).

Overall, 20 of the Top 25 Markets reported RevPAR growth.

“It is interesting that the major markets (RevPAR: +3.0%) outperformed all other markets (RevPAR: +2.6%) with more growth in occupancy (+1.7%) than ADR (+1.3%),” Freitag said. “On the flipside, the other markets reported nearly flat occupancy even with substantially less new supply coming online.”

Washington, D.C.-Maryland-Virginia, reported the steepest declines in all three key performance metrics: occupancy (-7.3% to 52.3%), ADR (-22.8% to US$132.23) and RevPAR (-28.4% to US$69.17). Those decreases were largely due to a comparison with the month of the 2017 presidential inauguration and Women’s March.

“The decline in Washington, D.C, negatively affected U.S. RevPAR growth by 100 basis points,” Freitag noted. “Excluding D.C., U.S. RevPAR increased 3.9%.”

Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida, experienced the second-largest decreases in occupancy (-4.1% to 68.7%) and RevPAR (-7.9% to US$90.39).