National + Hospitality | March 31, 2021

Forecast Sees Sizable Uptick in Lodging Occupancies for 2021’s Second Half

The continued rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations and additional stimulus funds have strengthened the foundation for the recovery of the U.S. lodging industry, says CBRE Hotels Research. It’s forecasting an average national occupancy level of 43.0% during the first half of 2021, accelerating to 55.1% in the year’s second half.

 “Our current forecast takes into account a national rollout of the COVID vaccines, plus the December COVID Relief Bill, both of which support the projections of improved performance during the second half of the year,” said Rachael Rothman, head of hotels research & data analytics for CBRE.

She continued, “Based on our forecasts, the worst of the top-line declines are now behind us. We are beginning to see green shoots of a recovery in air travel data, booking patterns and RevPAR.”

 Since February, when CBRE developed its forecast, “the pace of vaccination distribution has topped two million a day, more than we originally foresaw,” said Bram Gallagher Ph.D., senior hotel economist with CBRE Hotels Research. “In addition, the recent $1.9-trillion COVID package should boost lodging demand, while providing hotel owners with much needed financial assistance.”

Pictured: A Loews Hotel property in Arlington, TX.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).