According to Smith Travel Research data, Virginia Beach’s hotel occupancy rate for the week of December 13 – 19 was up 3.3% year-over-year to 43.1%, well ahead of the 12.5% decline for the running 28 days. Despite the encouraging uptick in occupancy, ADR was still down 7.3% to $75.93, similar to the 7.5% decline for the running 28 days. RevPAR was also down 4.3% to $25.88, but well ahead of the running 28-day trend of -19.0%. As a result, Revenue was down, but only 1.5% to $1,998,051 for the week, much better than the -16.6% trend for the running 28 days. Virginia Beach’s positive occupancy rate increase was driven by the Economy Class, which was up 19.8% to 49.02%, ahead of the class’ 9.6% increase for the Running 28 Days. The Midscale Class also saw an increase in occupancy, up 8.6% to 66.32%, well ahead of the 10.5% decline for the class for the Running 28 Days. The Upscale Class was down slightly 0.7%, while Upper Midscale dropped 6.1% and Upper Upscale was down 20.7%. Virginia Beach’s 3.3% increase in occupancy rate put it at the top of its competitive set, which ranged from Coastal Carolina, NC’s 2.4% increase to Atlantic City, NJ’s 47.5% year-over-year decline for the week.
