Fewer than one out of four Jefferson County hotel rooms were occupied in May

WATERTOWN — As the coronavirus crisis continued to hamper the travel and hospitality industry, hotels in Jefferson County saw a slight rebound in occupancy in May compared to the prior month but remained mostly empty, according to a recent report. 

The hotel occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) in the county was 23 percent in May, up from 16.8 percent in April but still down nearly 56 percent from more than 52 percent in May 2019, according to STR, a Tennessee–based hotel market data and analytics company. 

Jefferson County’s revenue per available room (RevPar), a key industry gauge that measures how much money hotels are bringing in per available room was $17.29 in May, up from $12.13 in April, but off more than 65 percent from nearly $50 a year ago.

Average daily rate (or ADR), which represents the average rental rate for a sold room, slipped 21.1 percent to $75.30 in May. That was an improvement from $72.32 in April.