Occupancy rate surpasses 80% in Providence hotels

HOTELS IN PROVIDENCE reached an 81.4 percent occupancy rate in June, their best rate since October 2004, according to an analysis recently released by Smith Travel Research. / COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
HOTELS IN PROVIDENCE reached an 81.4 percent occupancy rate in June, their best rate since October 2004, according to an analysis recently released by Smith Travel Research. / COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

PROVIDENCE – Hotels in Providence reached an 81.4 percent occupancy rate in June, their best rate since October 2004, according to an analysis recently released by Smith Travel Research.

“The idea of vacating a city during the hot summer months is an outdated concept, at least here in Providence,” Martha Sheridan, president and CEO of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in a statement. “The PWCVB has booked several large meetings, conventions, and sporting events this summer, which are filling restaurants, hotels and shops, while the City of Providence and our local arts and cultural community have scheduled a wide range of entertaining events that are drawing more visitors to the city.”

The occupancy rate marks the first time city properties have surpassed 80 percent since October 2004.

Hotels here also saw increases in Average Daily Rate, rising to $137.17 for the first half of 2012 from $129.68 for the same period in 2011. ADR peaked in May at $159.14 which the PWCVB attributed to meetings and conventions held here as well as area college graduations.

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June’s ADR was $149.36, a 9.7 percent increase over June 2011.

Year over year, occupancy rates in Providence are up 5 percent in the first half of 2012 over the first half of 2011.

“While meetings and conventions provide a solid base for the hotel community, it is the layering of leisure travel visitors on top of that base that makes the kind of substantial impact we’ve seen this summer,” Sheridan said.

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