NO HOLIDAY FOR THE HOTEL SECTOR Occupancy and RevPAR Prospects Brighten for Q3 and Q4
CANADIAN HOTELS still aren’t making the Dean’s list for investment performance, but market analysts appear confident that rallying conditions are pushing the sector in a positive direction. Colliers’ review of trends in the second quarter of 2021 gauges investor sentiment at a C+, while Avison Young’s mid-year C a na d a hot el m a rket su m m a r y u nder scores exp e ct at ions for improvement in Q3 and Q4. Both reports examine the interplay of COVID-19-related depressants that will have to lift before occupancy levels, revenue per available room (RevPAR) and average daily rates (ADR) can recover to pre-pandemic levels, and 12 September 2021 | Canadian Property Management
acknowledge that will take some time to fully occur. However, the steady increase in Canada’s vaccination rates, rebounding domestic travel and prospects for the return of cross-border and international visitors are all cause for optimism. The United States also provides some indication of expected demand once pandemic-related restrictions ease. “In the U.S., Memorial Day occupancy and RevPAR numbers were better than those posted during the 2019 Memorial Day holiday weekend, reaffirming that when it comes to travel, people are looking to make up for lost time,” Avison Young analysts observe. “This is a trend
that will likely also take place in Canada, but several months behind the U.S.” The firm’s proprietary analytics platform, which measures the weekly influx of people into downtown Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal, shows that the three cores are becoming more active, suggesting an associated pickup in dema nd for hospita lity ser vices. Combined with national survey findings that 59% of prospective vacationers intend to do so within Canada this year, the sector is considered well positioned to attract a restless population that’s still hesitant to go farther afield. “ T he leisu re s e g m e n t o f t h e hospitality industry will likely have the
