Canada’s hotel performance fell slightly from the previous month but surpassed the 2019 comparables, according to STR’s January 2023 data.
January 2023 (percentage change from 2019)
- Occupancy: 50.7% (+0.3%)
- Average daily rate (ADR): CAD167.96 (+14.0%)
- Revenue per available room (RevPAR): CAD85.11 (+14.2%)
“Despite downward pressure on household disposable incomes, tourism spending remained elevated,” Baxter said. “People have chosen to prioritize experiences, including hotel stays, evidenced by transient demand that was 9% above the pre-pandemic comparable and showed no signs of pullback from the latter half of 2022. Meanwhile, group demand came in 14% below 2019 levels but is expected to pick up momentum throughout the year as more typical patterns start to emerge and the industry benefits from events taking place that were cancelled earlier in the pandemic.”
Among the provinces and territories, Manitoba recorded the highest January occupancy level (64.3%), which surpassed the pre-pandemic comparable by 20.9%.
Among the major markets, Vancouver reported the highest occupancy level (63.9%), which was 1.3% behind 2019.
Prince Edward Island (36.3%) saw the lowest occupancy among provinces, up 14.1% against 2019. At the market-level, the lowest occupancy was reported in Edmonton (43.2%) which was 6.4% below the 2019 comparable.
“Typically, room demand declines in a recession, but STR’s latest forecast projects growth in 2023 with further demand rebound across all segments expected to push occupancy in line with the 2019 benchmark,” said Baxter. “The assumption that Canada will enter a moderate recession this year remains consistent, with GDP contracting 1.3%. The bulk of ADR recovery took place in 2022, but with the industry laser-focused on the benefits of strong room rates, the forecast is set for the metric to remain ahead of 2022.”
STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for global hospitality sectors. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 15 countries with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, an international headquarters in London, and an Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. STR was acquired in October 2019 by CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces. For more information, please visit str.com and costargroup.com.