More than three-quarters of hotel rooms across the US were empty last week, according to new data from analytics and research group STR.
The national occupancy rate for the week of March 22 was 22.6%, down 67.5% from the same time last year.
It’s the worst week yet for national occupancy since the coronavirus crisis started. The week of March 15 posted 30.3% occupancy, while the week before was at 53%.
STR projects 2020 will be the worst year on record for hotel occupancy, even with an anticipated rebound after the crisis passes.
Oahu Island in Hawaii posted the steepest drop in occupancy last week, down 86.4% from last year with just 10.5% of the rooms rented.
In other hard hit areas, occupied hotel rooms in New Orleans fell nearly 85%, New York dropped nearly 82%, while Seattle plummeted more than 76% from last year.