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Jefferson County hotel occupancy rate plunges nearly 35 percent in March

WATERTOWN — As the coronavirus shutdown of travel and much of business and daily life took effect in March, hotels in Jefferson County saw a sharp drop in guests in the month, according to a recent report. The hotel occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) in the county tumbled 34.7 percent […]

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The hotel occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) in the county tumbled 34.7 percent to 27.4 percent in March, according to STR, a Tennessee–based hotel market data and analytics company. Year to date through March, occupancy in the county was down just 3.4 percent to 35.4 percent as hotels had relatively strong months in January and February.

Jefferson County’s revenue per available room (RevPar), a key industry gauge that measures how much money hotels are bringing in per available room, plummeted 38.5 percent to $22.70 in March. Through the first three months of 2020, RevPar was off 4.9 percent to $31.03.

Average daily rate (or ADR), which represents the average rental rate for a sold room, fell 5.8 percent to $82.80 in March. For the full first quarter of the year, ADR in the county dipped just 1.6 percent to $87.77.

Journal Staff