HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — Canada’s hotel industry reported positive year-over-year results in the three key performance metrics during the first quarter of 2018, according to data from STR.
In year-over-year comparison, occupancy rose 2.2 per cent (to 57.3 per cent), Average Daily Rate (ADR) climbed to $147.14 (up five per cent) and Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) jumped 7.3 per cent to $84.25. The absolute occupancy level was the highest for a Q1 in Canada since 2007, while the ADR and RevPAR levels were the highest for any Q1 on record. March was the strongest month of the quarter, in absolute terms, for occupancy (61.9 per cent), ADR ($148.90) and RevPAR ($92.18).
STR analysts note that a 3.1-per-cent increase in Q1 demand (room nights sold) can be attributed to a jump in inbound tourism, which could be due to the openness of the country’s borders and the weak Canadian dollar compared with the U.S. dollar. Occupancy growth then initiated a shift in pricing power. All of the country’s Q1 performance metrics exceeded STR’s forecast for Q1, with the exception of supply, which grew 0.9 per cent.
Overall, 10 of the 11 reporting provinces and territories saw RevPAR growth during the quarter, with British Colombia posting the largest increases in both ADR (up 9.7 per cent to $172.88) and RevPAR (up 12.9 per cent to $108.20). Ontario reported the only other double-digit jump in RevPAR (a ten-per-cent increase to $89.49), due in part to the second-largest increase in ADR (up 5.9 per cent to $147.92).
Saskatchewan experienced the highest rise in occupancy (up 5.8 per cent to 50.5 per cent), but the largest ADR decrease for the quarter (a 3.2-per-cent drop to $116.65). Newfoundland and Labrador saw the only double-digit drop in occupancy (down 14.7 per cent to 43.4 per cent) and the only decline in RevPAR (dropping 16 per cent to $56.46).
