The five US states in the path of Hurricane Matthew saw a net hotel room revenue loss of approximately US$50m during the days of and around the storm, according to research and benchmarking specialists STR’s consulting and analytics division.
STR examined the hotel room revenue impact in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia as part of its hurricane analysis project.
“When looking at the net impact on hotel demand and rates, the story was very similar to what we saw when Hurricane Sandy hit in late 2012,” said Steve Hennis, STR’s VP of consulting and analytics. “Unfortunately, the overall loss will be higher once you factor in future lost business as a result of the extensive damage and renovations that many hotels will require prior to reopening.”
The major markets most affected were Orlando, Florida (-$14.5m; Miami/Hialeah, Florida (-$13.6m); and Charleston, South Carolina (-$9.6m).
The most affected day was Friday, 7 October.
Of course, there also were many submarkets that saw positive gains as hotels catered to evacuees, stranded visitors, emergency management personnel and the media. Those submarkets included: Tampa, Greenville and Charlotte.
