STR: Canada hotel occupancy reached four‑year high in August

August 2023 (percentage change from August 2022):

• Occupancy: 77.4 per cent (+1.4 per cent)

• Average daily rate (ADR): CAD226.04 (+5.8 per cent)

• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): CAD174.87 (+7.2 per cent) 

“Although year-over-year growth has moderated from earlier this year, performance improvement in August was still a considerable achievement against stronger metrics from last summer’s ​‘revenge travel’ period,” says Laura Baxter, CoStar Group’s director of hospitality analytics for Canada. 

“Demand patterns across the segments are starting to normalize. Both transient and weekend occupancies have been gradually returning closer to 2019 levels over the course of this year. This is not the same for ADR, however, as both segments continue to see rates at an elevated level. While hoteliers have reported strong demand from tours, sports teams, and smaller groups, demand from large groups has lagged. Group rates, however, are making up for much of the shortfall in demand, and we anticipate booking patterns to normalize moving forward.”

Among the provinces and territories, Newfoundland and Labrador recorded the highest August occupancy level (88.2 per cent), which was 3.3 per cent above 2022. Among the major markets, Vancouver saw the highest occupancy (86.4 per cent), which was 0.8 per cent ahead of August 2022.

The lowest occupancy among provinces was reported in Saskatchewan (64.3 per cent), up 4.1 per cent against 2022. At the market level, the lowest occupancy was reported in Edmonton (+10.5 per cent to 66.7 per cent).

“Hotels in Alberta housed wildfire evacuees, creating elevated hotel demand in the market, and strong occupancy growth in Calgary and Edmonton. With a short tourism ban put in place in the Okanagan, hotel performance in Kelowna fell year over year. The ban has been lifted, and hotels are ready to welcome visitors.”

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