Oneida County hotel occupancy edges up in May from April, but is still way off from a year ago on COVID-19 effect

UTICA — Oneida County hotels started to get a little busier in May compared to April, but occupancy levels were still down by nearly 50 percent from a year prior as the continuing coronavirus pandemic hindered business, travel, and leisure. 

The hotel occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) in the county was 29.2 percent in May, up from 24.5 percent occupancy in April, but down 49.7 percent from 58 percent occupancy in May 2019. That’s according to STR, a Tennessee–based hotel market data and analytics company. 

Oneida County’s revenue per available room (RevPar), a key industry gauge that measures how much money hotels are bringing in per available room, was $24.61 in May, up from $20.08 in April, but down 62.5 percent from more than $65 a year ago.

Average daily rate (or ADR), which represents the average rental rate for a sold room, was $84.36 in May, up from $81.89 in April, but off 25.5 percent from more than $113 in May 2019.