STR’s February Profit & Loss data report says that some of the top 25 markets such as Miami and Phoenix exceeded the pre-pandemic levels in terms of operating profits
The latest report on United States hotel industry released by STR Data, a data analysis and aggregation firm, is bound to cheer the sentiments in the hospitality industry not just in America but across the world.
STR’s February Profit & Loss data report says that after falling to roughly USD 20 in January, gross operating profit for US hotels reached nearly USD 59, the highest level since October 2021.
The report goes on to add that all of the key performance metrics increased from January, after concerns around Omicron pushed levels lower. While the total revenue per available room was USD 170, the net margin before taxes was USD 39.29 per room.
“Following trends in top-line performance, US profitability levels are recovering more quickly from Omicron than with previous variants,” says Raquel Ortiz, STR’s director of financial performance. “February GOPPAR was roughly 77 pc of the 2019 comparable, but independents (108 pc), luxury (94 pc) and midscale (88 pc) chains were far above the national average. The upper upscale (67 pc) and upscale (70 pc) segments are where the largest deficits persisted,’’ she adds.
The data says that some of the top 25 markets such as Miami with 135 pc and Phoenix with 118 pc exceeded the pre-pandemic levels in terms of operating profits. However, two key markets continued to suffer. New York with 340 pc and Chicago with 187 pc underperformed the market and continued to lose money.
‘‘Fortunately, recent improvements in top-line performance have us expecting gains in profitability for those and many more markets when we process March P&L data,’’ says Ortiz.
Among increases during the month, total labour costs were up to 97 pc of the pre-pandemic period. That was the second-highest index to 2019 of the pandemic-era, behind December 2021.
“As we look toward the spring and summer months, a further rise in labor costs might be expected due to increased demand,” Ortiz says. “However, our February data shows labour margins leveling out, which is likely due to those increased costs being absorbed by the increase in room rates,” she adds.
