Growth in Lodging Industry
NEWS RELEASE
FROM: Martha A. Burton
Tourism Director
DATE: January 24, 2018
Hotel Room Sales Rise in The Best PART of Virginia
A two-year growth spurt in the hospitality/tourism sector in the PART region continued through 2017 helping to propel local hotel revenues to new highs. According to Petersburg Area Regional Tourism (PART), hotel room sales reached $71 million for calendar year 2017, surpassing the $70 million for the same period in 2016, which was a “banner year”.
Hotel occupancy in 2017 reached 62.7 percent according to data compiled by Smith Travel Research. The average daily room rate (ADR) grew to $81.59 for 2017, and revenue per available room (RevPAR) also increased during 2017.
Rick Young, PART Board President, said “PART is thrilled to see the Smith Travel Research numbers which confirm that the hospitality and tourism sector is an important and growing contributor to this region’s economy”.
PART utilizes the Smith Travel Research monthly reports to monitor business activity in 40+ hotels representing over 3,800 rooms located within the cities of Colonial Heights, Hopewell and Petersburg and southern Chesterfield, Dinwiddie and Prince George Counties. Higher hotel revenue translates into growth in lodging tax revenue for the region’s local communities. “When people are staying in the hotels, they are more than likely eating, purchasing gas and, hopefully, spending time enjoying all of the assets that this region has to offer”, Mr. Young said.