Knowland: Tampa leads U.S. in group travel revenue recovery for Q3

THE TOP 25 U.S. markets have recovered 99.1 percent for group business in the third quarter of this year compared to the same time in 2019, according to the Hospitality Group and Business Performance Index from Knowland and Amadeus. Group bookings are calculated using occupancy and ADR.

The index combined event data from Knowland with hotel booking data from Amadeus to give both individual and aggregate views of the key drivers of hotel performance and is updated on a quarterly basis, Knowland said in a statement.

The third quarter data shows that 13 of the top markets have recovered 100 percent of group revenue, including:

1. Tampa          116.8 percent
2. Las Vegas     114 percent
3. San Diego     111.5 percent
4. New York City       111.2 percent
5. Phoenix        109.9 percent
6. Seattle         108.5 percent
7. Orlando        108.2 percent
8. Dallas           107.8 percent
9. Houston       107.7 percent
10. Detroit         2 percent
11. Washington, D.C. 104.5 percent
12. Denver       101 percent
13. Boston       100 percent

Insights from the index are as follows:

• Strong ADR drives group recovery – Achieving 103 percent of 2019 revenues, the group index continues an upward trend, driven by a 12.1 percent increase in ADR.
• Meeting and event business continues to provide stability – Event business enables hoteliers to build a foundation for their business with a traditionally longer booking window in view. Events achieved 89.1 percent of 2019 levels. Key markets doing this well include Austin, Texas, Nashville, Tennessee, and Denver, Colorado, which all achieved 145 percent over 2019 for the third quarter.
• Optimism for improving corporate travel – Reflecting the potential upward trajectory of business travel, there are promising signs as the negotiated segment inches closer to pre-pandemic levels. The top three markets leading this rebound include Miami (119 percent), San Diego (112 percent), and Las Vegas (108 percent.)
• Corporate meetings dominate – Remote work continues to drive the need for small company gatherings to foster collaboration and culture building, as demonstrated by the fact that 70 percent of meetings in Q3 averaged less than 200 attendees. The top segment was 101-200, representing 20.4 percent of total meetings, closely followed by groups of 26-50 attendees, representing 19.8 percent.

In September, the event volume surged 21.7 percent year over year compared to the previous year, Knowland said. Meanwhile, Nashville experienced the highest growth rate at 30.7 percent.