STR Weekly Insights: 18-24 May 2025

Analysis by Isaac Collazo, Chris Klauda

All financial figures in U.S. dollar constant currency. 

Highlights

• Normal demand for Memorial Day weekend
• Top 25 Markets lifted RevPAR at the start of the week
• Luxury hotels continue to outperform the rest of the industry
• Global RevPAR strengthened

Memorial Day weekend shows the resolve of travelers 

With the unofficial start to summer, TSA screening volume on Friday, 23 May was the third highest for any day in history. One day earlier, Thursday, was the fifth highest. 

For the week, U.S. hotels produced steady RevPAR growth of 1.1% as average daily rate (ADR) advanced 1.5% and occupancy decreased 0.3 percentage points (ppts). The Friday and Saturday ahead of Memorial Day produced normal demand levels for the holiday weekend (+18K year over year), reflecting a steadfast consumer with an appetite for travel.

• The number of rooms sold for the Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day weekend was the third highest on record and less than 1% behind 2022 and 2019.  
• Occupancy came in at 76.4%, just 0.4 ppts behind last year and 0.1 ppts behind 2023. 
• ADR growth was also similar to the last two Memorial Day weekend (+0.1% this year, +0.2% last year and +0.1% in 2023).

The start of the week was lifted by the Top 25 Markets with RevPAR on Monday through Thursday averaging +3.0%, driven entirely by ADR. Several T25 markets hosted large conferences at the beginning of the week, led by San Francisco with RevPAR advancing 24.3%. 

The weekend saw the greatest gains in cities outside the T25.

Luxury on top again

Luxury hotels dominated performance across the chains scales with RevPAR rising 6.8%, driven primarily by ADR. Upper Upscale and Upscale followed at more subdued levels, just under 2.0%. Upper Midscale posted flat RevPAR and Economy declined 2.5%. 

Global performance remained healthy

Global RevPAR, excluding the U.S., increased 7.4% with Japan leading the charge followed by strong performance in Germany with triple-digit RevPAR gains in Dusseldorf and Cologne. France and Mexico also saw healthy gains.

Looking ahead

A full summary of Memorial Day weekend will be available in next week’s data, however, the respectable performance on Friday and Saturday as well as year-over-year growth in TSA numbers this past week (+0.5%) points to a good result. 
Looking further into June, advance bookings in the U.S. are up from last year in aggregate, while July and August are seeing some softness—likely due to shorter booking windows. 

The start of summer break is slightly later for students this year, which could push back some leisure travel. 

Outside the U.S., performance should remain up as summer holidays commence across much of the world.

Updated Forecasts

The updated U.S. hotel forecast from CoStar and Tourism Economics will be released at NYU IHIF on Monday, 2 June. Global market forecast reports will be available by Tuesday, 3 June.