Even in a pandemic, Austin sees growth in hotel occupancy for third straight week
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Hotel occupancy in Austin rose again, slightly, for the third straight week according to new data from hotel analyst company STR.
From April 26 to May 2, Austin’s hotel occupancy rate was 25.5%, up from a pandemic low of 20.6% from April 5 to April 11.
Jan Freitag, STR’s senior VP of lodging insights, said numbers are still “incredibly low,” but the growth shows an increase in room demand.
“The first ‘real weekend’ with eased COVID-19 restrictions showed an obvious jump in hotel demand, especially in popular, warm-weather leisure spots,” she said.
“Whether or not this becomes a trend remains to be seen, but the fact that there were people instantly willing to head out for leisure activity and stay in hotels is a positive sign for the industry.”