Hotel occupancy swells in September

A study released by Smith Travel Research, a Nashville, Tenn.-based research firm that tracks and analyzes demand data for the hotel industry, brings good news for the Tampa Bay Region.

The study reveals that the Tampa-St. Petersburg market is ranked No. 1 atop the top 25 markets in the study in hotel occupancy rate growth with a 13.5% increase. The region's occupancy rate increase outpaced the national rate, which experienced a 5.7% increase.

Chris Adkins, director of sales and marketing at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club in St. Petersburg, says he is excited about the news, but the data can be deceiving.
“If you look at the national numbers, our occupancy rate and prices are still pretty low,” Adkins says of the hotel industry in the Tampa Bay region.

The data agree with Adkins, for the Smith report says the national average for revenue per available room (RevPAR) — which is the room rate of a hotel multiplied by the occupancy rate — is $65.47 compared with $45.14 in Tampa-St. Petersberg for the month of September.

On a more positive note, the latter rate increased by 17% last month, a sharper increase than the national average, indicating some recovery for the ailing Tampa tourism sector.