Hotel demand was up, but rates dipped from the prior year leading to RevPAR and room revenue finishing just below performance from last July. Demand was up 2.7% YOY pushing occupancy to 79.4% for the month. ADR came down -3% YOY to $227, leading to RevPAR finishing at $180. Santa Cruz County hotels collected just shy of $25 million in room revenue, down -0.3% from last July.
Short term rental demand in the county was down -0.7% YOY, revenue for these properties was buoyed by rate strength as ADR climbed up 7.7% YOY to $430. Supply of short-term rentals expanded by 11.2% from last July, leading to a -3.9% YOY drop in RevPAR which finished at $194.
There were 15.8K leisure and hospitality jobs in the region at the end of July 2024, up 1.3% from the prior year although not fully recovered to pre-pandemic July 2019 employment levels. The industry represents 15.6% of total non-farm jobs in the region. At the end of June, the job opening rate for leisure and hospitality was down 4%, it was a 5.2% in June 2023, suggesting that employers in the sector are more successful at filling available positions.
US leisure and hospitality hourly wage growth (+30.9%) has outpaced that of private sector hourly wages (+22.8%), in comparison of cumulative increases from February 2020. Consumer prices since that period have grown 17.9%, with wage gains outpacing strong inflation (source: BLS, BEA)
Continuing to watch travel intent by income group versus economic reality, low-income groups remain a concern as credit card delinquency rates continue to rise, now 3.2%. Higher income households however, which show strong travel intent, currently account for more than 60% of hotel spending.
