Nebraska, Minnesota Lead Regional Occupancy Gains
Oil industry rebound may support improvement in North Dakota moving forward. Occupancy declined slightly through-out the Upper Midwest region during the past 12 months ending in June as rates plummeted in several states. Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota led declines, with occupancy in each state fall-ing at minimum 150 basis points. Plummeting occupancy stalled growth in the average daily rate in all three states, pushing down RevPAR. The rebounding oil industry may support hotel demand, particularly in North Dakota, which was significantly impacted by declines in the oil markets in 2015 and 2016. Occupancy in the state plummeted more than 1,600 basis points during the two-year period.
Several states post occupancy improvements despite re-gional declines. Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin each reg-istered healthy gains in occupancy and RevPAR during the past four quarters. The Super Bowl was held in Minneapolis earlier this year, generating a significant uptick in hotel property perfor-mance during this time. In Nebraska, many tourists flocked to the state to watch the solar eclipse in August of last year, significant-ly boosting room demand during the event. Occupancy climbed 200 basis points during that month compared with the same time period in 2016.
