September 12, 2009
Hotel occupancy in Miami rose last week, according to the most recent data from Smith Travel Research.
For the week ended Sept. 5, occupancy was 52.1 percent, up 1.4 percent from the same time last year.
However, average daily room rates fell 6.5 percent, to $109.09.
Though prices have dropped throughout the year compared to last year, the drops are not as severe as they were during the spring, said Jean Francois Mourier, founder and president of RevPAR Guru, a Miami-Beach-based hotel-consulting firm.
“Basically, this is showing the general trend of the market, that we’re recovering,” he said.
The growth is partly due to an increase in foreign travelers coming to Miami to take advantage of the weak dollar, Mourier said. “The summer has been much better because we’re getting a lot of European visitors.”
In Case You Missed It
Nationwide, the industry’s occupancy fell 1.4 percent to end the week at 53.4 percent. Average daily rates dropped 8.6 percent to finish the week at $92.20, according to the Hendersonville, Tenn.-based research company.
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