Daytona Beach, FL – A drop in events and news reports on shark bites led to Volusia’s hotel occupancy rate falling for the first time in nearly a year.
That’s the conclusion reached in the latest report released on Tuesday by Mid-Florida Marketing & Research, the company that gathers and analyzes all kinds of tourism-related data for Volusia County.
The report shows Volusia’s hotel occupancy rate for June 2015 at 69%, which is 2% less than what it was in June 2014.
The hotel occupancy rate shows how many of Volusia’s available hotel, motel and other such rooms were rented out during the month.
It’s the first time since September 2014 that Volusia’s hotel occupancy rate didn’t grow compared to the same month the year before.
In the report, Mid-Florida President Evelyn Fine noted that “negative shark reports” were a factor behind June’s hotel occupancy rate drop, as were having less group business events and the loss of the United States World Team Trials and USA Wrestling Cadet National Duals events that took place at the Ocean Center in June 2014.
Ormond Beach hoteliers took the brunt of the drop, posting a 53% occupancy rate last month. That’s 8% less than in June 2014 and 14% less than in June 2013.
Daytona Beach hoteliers also saw a big drop in occupancy rate last month. Their 73% is 12% less than was the case in June 2014.
Volusia’s hoteliers did see a $3.53 jump in the average daily rate per hotel room last month, meaning that most hoteliers were able to sell their rooms for more money than was the case in June 2014.
June 2015’s average daily rate was $111.90, while the June 2014 average daily rate was $108.37.
That makes it the 9th consecutive month that Volusia’s average daily rate per hotel room went up compared to the same month the year before. The last time that wasn’t the case was September 2014.
REV/PAR – or revenue per available room – also increased in June for the 9th straight month, going from $76.12 in June 2014 to $77 in June 2015. That’s a 1% increase, according to the Mid-Florida report.
For the first 6 months of 2015, Volusia’s overall hotel occupancy rate is up 3% compared to the same time period in 2014. The average daily rate has also gone up $7.39 during that time while REV/PAR increased by $8.46.
Copyright 2015 Southern Stone Communications.