Jefferson County hotel occupancy rate falls nearly 18 percent in February

WATERTOWN, N.Y — Hotels in Jefferson County saw a decline in guests in February compared to the year-ago month, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued hindering travel and hospitality businesses, according to a recent report.

The hotel occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) in the county declined 17.5 percent to 35.4 percent in February, according to STR, a Tennessee–based hotel market data and analytics company. It was the smallest year-over-year decline in occupancy since last October’s 16 percent drop.

Revenue per available room (RevPar), a key industry gauge that measures how much money hotels are bringing in per available room, slipped 19.2 percent to $31.50 in the second month of the year compared to February 2020. That’s a smaller year-over-year decline in Jefferson County’s RevPar than in each of the prior three months. 

Average daily rate (or ADR), which represents the average rental rate for a sold room, dipped 2 percent to $89.04 in February from the year-ago month.