Oneida County hotels see increasing demand

UTICA — Oneida County hoteliers have seen a substantial recent rise in demand for their rooms. The county’s average occupancy rate, based on data for 35 hotels with more than 2,800 rooms, rose to 72.6 percent in July, from 60.9 percent in June and 56 percent in May, according to STR, Inc., a Hendersonville, Tenn.–based […]

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UTICA — Oneida County hoteliers have seen a substantial recent rise in demand for their rooms.

The county’s average occupancy rate, based on data for 35 hotels with more than 2,800 rooms, rose to 72.6 percent in July, from 60.9 percent in June and 56 percent in May, according to STR, Inc., a Hendersonville, Tenn.–based provider of hotel data.

In comparison, the national hotel occupancy rate for July was 73.6 percent.

The average daily room rate for hotels in Oneida County increased 6 percent to $123.20 in July, the highest rate recorded for the county in the six years of historical data provided by STR.

Furthermore, Oneida County has a higher average daily room rate than other Central New York counties with available hotel data. In July, Onondaga County’s average daily rate was $98.73 in July, while Broome County checked in at $87.67. The average daily rate for Jefferson County in July was $111.31.

RevPAR (revenue per available room) has also consistently increased year-over-year in Oneida County in the past few months. RevPAR, a key hotel industry indicator, was up 5.4 percent in July, 1.2 percent in June, 8.9 percent in May, and 11.4 percent in April.

Hotels in Oneida County generated total revenue of nearly $32.8 million in the first seven months of the year, up 5.4 percent from the same period in 2013.

Nicole Collins: