Oneida County hotels continued business bounceback in August with nearly 6 out of 10 rooms filled

UTICA, N.Y. — Oneida County hotels continued to get busier in August compared to July, June, and May amid the coronavirus pandemic, with occupancy approaching 60 percent.

The hotel occupancy rate (rooms sold as a percentage of rooms available) in the county rebounded to 58.4 percent in August from 49.5 percent in July, 41.3 percent in June, and 29.2 percent in May, according to STR, a Tennessee–based hotel market data and analytics company. Still, occupancy was down more than 26 percent from August 2019 levels, suppressed by the COVID-19 crisis.

Oneida County’s revenue per available room (RevPar), a key industry gauge that measures how much money hotels are bringing in per available room rose to $73.89 in August, from $59.05 in July, $39.42 in June, and $24.61 in May. However, RevPar was down almost 32 percent from a year ago.

Average daily rate (or ADR), which represents the average rental rate for a sold room, improved to $126.48 in August from $119.32 in July, $95.46 in June, and $84.36 in May, but was still off 7.6 percent from a year prior.