The rate for hotel rooms in the District averaged $248.37 per day in April, the fourth-highest average monthly rate ever recorded and 10 percent more than the average rate a year ago.
April’s room rates were likely helped by the record attendance at this year’s National Cherry Blossom Festival, which topped 1.6 million visitors, according to Hendersonvile, Tenn.-based Smith Travel Research data provided to D.C.’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer.
The number of hotel room days sold in April also increased from the previous year, with the three-month moving average for April growing by 3.9 percent.
The days sold and the room rate in April combined to drive a 7.7 percent gain in the three-month average for room revenue in April.
The revenue growth is part of an uptick that began with the 2013 presidential inauguration. April’s numbers, however, show that the room revenue didn’t drop off as sharply as it could have after January’s spike. While the three-month averages for February and March would have still factored in the inauguration, April’s numbers represent the post-inauguration average taken from February, March and April.
The numbers are a bright spot following declines in the hotel sector late last year. While hotel room revenue still hasn’t bounced back to pre-2012 levels, the 12-month average for revenue was 2.4 percent higher in April than the previous year and the highest since August 2012.
