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AUSTIN (KXAN) – Central Texas travel and hotel occupancy are on the rise with major events and graduation parties, but it’s not quite booming yet, according to market reports.
“I received a confirmation from booking.com, an email confirmation from them and an extended stay confirmation from the Arboretum,” said Casie Addison.
Addison had already pre-booked her stay for a softball tournament last weekend when she was greeted at her hotel with a sign saying, “Sorry, we’re closed”.
“They closed the day before when they were sold out. They ran out of rooms, but they were still being sold on booking.com, ”said Addison.
Addison sat in her car all night until around 7am when booking.com Addison found another room at the Four Seasons. This last minute room ended up costing over $ 800 for one night.
“The prices are definitely much higher. I’m not surprised she paid that much money for the hotel, ”said Rupal Chaudhari, CFO of Homewood and Hampton Inn Suites.
Chaudhari’s hotels on Lakeline Boulevard have seen a sharp increase in weekend stays, but setting up to match that increase has been challenging. Six positions have been open in their hotels for four months.
“We actually have to take rooms out of order sometimes, because who cleans those rooms?” Said Chaudhari.
The lack of business travel is also noticeable, according to travel experts.
“Austin’s revenue for the lodging market is still down 46%,” said Paul Vaughn, senior vice president of Source Strategies.
Source Strategies, a San Antonio-based hotel consulting firm tracking the Texan market, recently released a report showing that accommodation revenues also fell 31% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the first quarter of 2020.
This continues to be the largest percentage drop in the five largest metros in Texas, according to Source Strategies.
The city of Austin hotel occupancy tax collection is also still in decline.
“What we lack is Monday through Thursday travel,” said Tom Noonan, President of Visit Austin. “Ordinarily, you’d get $ 130 million in hotel taxes into town. If we’re only at 50%, we’re down $ 65 million. ”
Noonan doesn’t expect that number to level out for a couple of years.
“In 2023 we will probably be at 80%, and in 2024 we should be where we have been,” Noonan said.
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