US: The latest figures from The Highland Group show that US extended-stay occupancy is at 19-year high despite the biggest increase in supply in 20 years.
The research shows that despite 32,000 new rooms added to the market over the last year, extended stay annual occupancy stayed above 76 per cent for the fifth time in the last six years. It was the joint highest annual occupancy since 2000.
Even with near record high occupancy and rapid supply absorption, ADR and RevPar growth continued to decelerate in 2019 although both reported positive annual change. Extended-stay rooms under construction steadied at 47,000.
“Fundamentally, the extended-stay segment is very well placed to handle the expected slowdown in RevPar growth and the potential impacts of the coronavirus,” said Mark Skinner, partner at The Highland Group.
“Extended-stay hotel RevPar deceleration and closer alignment with the overall hotel industry’s RevPar growth is usual at this stage of the hotel business cycle,” added Skinner. “STR forecasts zero change in overall hotel RevPar in 2020 and that is a reasonable projection for extended stay hotels. However, forecasts were made without considering the potential impacts of the coronavirus. The continued postponement or cancellation of large group events is not likely to have a major negative impact on extended stay hotels nationally. However, reduced travel related to coronavirus would impact extended stay hotels, but it is too early to establish a basis for forecasting the impact.”</p
