The U.S. hotel market had a standout September, with room demand being the second highest for the month, based on preliminary data from STR and Corstar.
According to an article on Corstar.com, room demand was boosted by increased business and group travel.
The article states room demand in September was 66.3 percent in the Top 25 markets across the country, just 0.3 percent lower than September 2022.
Louisville, Ky., had the second-highest weekday occupancy rate at 88.7 percent, while New Orleans, at 57.8 percent, had the lowest of the Top 25 markets.
Per the article, room demand is calculated as the number of room nights sold, while occupancy is the percentage of rooms available that are sold. Therefore, room demand can be higher while occupancy is lower year-over-year because of supply growth, because more rooms are sold but represent a smaller percentage of the whole.
In other industry news, Knowland reports that Nashville was a leader in terms of year-over-year growth in September, with an increase of 30.7 percent. The growth was spurred by the healthcare and technology industries, which represented 34 percent of corporate events in the city last month.
The Knowland press release also states several Southern destinations saw significant year-over-year growth, including Louisville, Lexington, Ky., Jacksonville, Fla., and the Greater Memphis Area.
