The U.S. hotel industry came roaring back this summer, according to new STR data. The question remains how well it will maintain it. Estimated U.S. hotel gross operating profit for July 2021 came in at 111% of the 2019 comparable, STR reported on Tuesday.
In addition to total GOP estimates above July 2019, EBITDA came in at 116% of the pre-pandemic comparable. On a per-available-room basis, each of the key profitability metrics, aside from labor, came in higher than any month since February 2020.
- GOPPAR: US$62.33
- TRevPAR: US$156.58
- EBITDA PAR: US$41.81
- LPAR (Labor Costs): US$46.24
“It is first important to note that one, or even a few months, with higher GOP than 2019 does not mean the industry has recovered,” said Raquel Ortiz, STR assistant director of financial performance. “The industry is heading into the lower season as summer wraps up, but looking back, we see just how high the surge in leisure demand pushed U.S. profitability in recent months. There was also the inflation impact on room rates to consider. We would expect similar, perhaps a bit lower, results in August data before seeing a drop-off in September.”
Ortiz added that the July numbers were less impressive when focusing in on just the major markets, which are mostly below 50% of 2019 revenue. “However, like the rest of the country, those key metro areas are showing margins in line with 2019 because of leaner operations,” she added.