Orlando Sentinel

Orlando was the nation’s

- By Marco Santana Got a news tip? msantana@orlandosen­tinel.com or 407-420-5256; Twitter, @marcosanta­na Got a news tip? msantana @orlandosen­tinel.com or 407-420-5256; Twitter, @marcosanta­na

top major market for hotel occupancy and per-room revenue in June, according to new data.

Orlando’s hotel numbers grew last month faster than any U.S. market in three key metrics, according to data and analytics specialist STR.

Occupancy rates jumped 6.1 percent to 83.3 percent, the average cost of a room jumped 10.2 percent to $127.86 and room revenue, also known as RevPAR, jumped 16.9 percent to $106.48.

The numbers come as the national industry posted record highs in room revenue, Jam Freitag, STR senior vice president of lodging insights, said in a news release.

“This clearly points to a very healthy group, business transient and leisure demand, supported by still undeterred GDP growth and low unemployme­nt numbers,” she said.

The increased occupancy rate in the market — defined as Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties — ended a two-month lag that had seen the number here dip year-over-year for the first time since January 2017.

Overall demand this year grew 8 percent, which should be good news for local hoteliers, who are expected to add more than 7,000 rooms to the market during 2018 and 2019.

So far this year, the region’s occupancy rate is up about 1.1 percent over the first six months of last year. Room revenue has grown 7.3 percent.

Nationally in June, occupancy rates were at 74.5 percent, an increase of 1.7 percent over last year.

Room revenue, meanwhile, jumped 4.6 percent to $98.85.

Overall demand this year grew 8 percent, which should be good news for local hoteliers, who are expected to add more than 7,000 rooms during 2018 and 2019.

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