HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — In the second half of 2021, Canada’s hotel industry reported Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) at 54.1 per cent of the pre-pandemic comparable, according to STR’s year-end data. Occupancy sat at 41.8 per cent (down 35.7 per cent), Average Daily Rate (ADR) was $139.11 (down 15.8 per cent) and RevPAR came in at $58.10 (down 45.9 per cent).

“Despite a surge in COVID-19 cases toward the latter half of December, hotels in Canada benefitted from leisure demand during the holiday weeks,” says Laura Baxter, CoStar Group’s director of Hospitality Analytics for Canada. CoStar Group is the parent company of STR. “While the holiday demand was expected, overall performance was also helped by a lift in group demand, which rose to 70 per cent of the 2019 comparable – the closest the metric has been to that marker since the pandemic began. When examining full-year performance, pent-up demand from the domestic market advanced performance over the summer, signaling the start of a much stronger second half of the year. Against the backdrop of fluctuating demand patterns, though, hoteliers focused on what was within their control, which was how rates became the success story of the year. By Q4, monthly room rates reached 90 to 99 per cent of 2019 levels. Weekend rates were particularly strong, surpassing pre-pandemic levels in November and December, while weekday rates were not too far behind with only five to 10 percentage points to go.”

Among the provinces and territories, British Columbia recorded the highest 2021 occupancy level at 48.5 per cent, which was 30.4 per cent below the pre-pandemic comparable. 

Among the major markets, Vancouver saw the highest occupancy at 47.9 per cent, which was a 39.8-per-cent decline from 2019. 

The lowest yearly occupancy among provinces was reported in New Brunswick at 35.1 per cent, down 41.1 per cent against 2019. At the market level, the lowest occupancy was reported in Montreal, down from 53.7 per cent to 33.1 per cent. 

“Performance still has a way to go, and the rise in COVID-19 cases related to the Omicron variant has not allowed hotels to start off the New Year on the right track,” says Baxter. “In 2021, we saw a clear, inverted trend between cases, hospitalizations and performance. When public-health conditions improved, the recovery picked up pace and vice versa. During the first two weeks of this month, occupancy fell to the 30-per-cent range, the lowest levels since June 2021. With case numbers falling, we expect a more positive performance picture over the coming weeks.”

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