2019 marked a decade of growth for Center City Philadelphia’s hotels. Today, the City of Philadelphia, in conjunction with VISIT PHILADELPHIA®, the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association, announced records, most notably, in average daily rate (up 5.8% year over year to $202.41) and revenue (up 4.3% year over year to $707 million). Occupancy remained solid at 76.3%, as did demand, with 3.49 million room nights consumed. All of these results came during a year when four new Philadelphia hotels opened, adding 491 rooms to the city’s supply.
“I’m proud that even with new properties entertain the Philadelphia market, our hotels continue to set records,” said City of Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. “Our growing tourism and hospitality industry works collaboratively to ensure that people choose Philadelphia for meetings, business trips and vacations every season of the year. This constant stream of visitor activity generates tax dollars and supports family-sustaining jobs for our residents. That’s hugely beneficial to our city and region.”
Center City Hotel Highlights:
Occupancy: 76.3%
Saturday night remained the busiest night of the week, with average occupancy at 88.1%.
Tuesday was the busiest weeknight, with 79.4% occupancy.
Record Average Daily Rate (ADR): $202.41
This 5.8% year-over-year increase (up from $191.40 in 2018) is attributable to several factors: a strong convention year, strengthened business demand, solid leisure demand, more high-end hotel room inventory and a slow and steady increase in ADR in recent years.
Record Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR): $154
Growing 1.2% year over year, RevPAR is up from $152 in 2018.
Supply & Demand: 58 million room nights in supply, 3.49 million room nights sold
2019 demand surpassed the overall five-year average by 4.5%, showing that the market is strong and thriving.
Record Room Revenue: $707 million
Up 4.3% from $678 million in 2018, this revenue is the result of higher rates (ADR) throughout the year.
Market Mix: One-third for each segment
Of the 3.49 million rooms consumed, demand was split largely evenly among the three segments of travel: business (33%), group (32%) and leisure (31%). Contract business (primarily flight crews and long-term stays) accounted for 4% of the mix.
According to AIRDNA, in 2019, Center City Philadelphia saw a significant increase in demand for limited-lodging options such as Airbnb, with 343,700 room nights consumed by guests renting a private room or an entire home, up 38.9% year over year.
Note to Editors: At tonight’s 2020 Tourism & Hospitality Industry Outlook, industry leaders will celebrate the 2019 hotel performance detailed above and announce plans for the year and decade ahead.
Data Sources: STR, Tourism Economics and AIRDNA; all data points are based on the most current information available and may change slightly as new data becomes available.
About VISIT PHILADELPHIA:
VISIT PHILADELPHIA is our name and our mission. As the region’s official tourism marketing agency, we build Greater Philadelphia’s image, drive visitation and boost the economy.
On Greater Philadelphia’s official visitor website and blog, visitphilly.com and uwishunu.com, visitors can explore things to do, upcoming events, themed itineraries and hotel packages. Compelling photography and videos, interactive maps and detailed visitor information make the sites effective trip-planning tools. Along with Visit Philly social media channels, the online platforms communicate directly with consumers. Travelers can also call and stop into the Independence Visitor Center for additional information and tickets.
About the PHLCVB:
The Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB) creates positive economic impact across the Philadelphia region, driving job growth, and promoting the health and vibrancy of our hospitality industry by marketing the destination and the Pennsylvania Convention Center globally. Our work engages our local community, as well as culturally and ethnically diverse regional, national and international convention and sporting event and tourism customers, as well as overseas leisure visitors.
About GPHA:
The Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association (GPHA) is a trade association representing more than 90 hotels throughout the Philadelphia 5-county area. In addition to our hotel members, we also have over 150 Allied Members, a diverse group of companies and related industry partners who do business with hotels. Our hotel members employ over 14,000 residents and have over 30,000 guestrooms.