Music
shows – even those other than Taylor Swift – have a big impact on performance.
AMERICAS REPORT – Argentina and Mexico led the Americas
(excluding the U.S.) with the highest year-over-year RevPAR growth, disguised
by currency issues that yielded a strong enough lift in ADR to counter an
occupancy decline in both countries, according to new STR data.
Rio de Janeiro stood out amongst the top markets in this
region as having the highest RevPAR growth (at 33.9%). This was driven by
strong performance on both weekdays and weekends, mostly due to corporate
travel recovering and strong leisure demand. Many music shows over the last
year have had a positive impact on performance. Most recently, Shakira
performed in the market, which drove occupancy to reach its highest daily level
for 2025 thus far.
Mexico is having a year, posting a double-digit RevPAR
increase across most markets. These are predominantly fueled by rate growth
impacted by a weakened currency against the dollar. The Mexico Caribbean was
the next market in line behind Rio de Janeiro, with almost 28% RevPAR growth,
followed by Mexico City and Baja California. Mexico City should expect to see a
nice lift in performance when Shakira comes to town in mid-March. Forward STAR
data shows hotel bookings around 40% on the concert nights.
In Panama, groups have recently been one of the key drivers
for strong performance. Group rate growth has outpaced transient ADR,
contributing to an overall room rate lift of nearly 10% in January. Occupancy
gains were also present, resulting in RevPAR growth at 18.7%.
In Canada, the ADR gain is also sustaining most RevPAR
growth. Group demand contributed to the 3.1% RevPAR growth in Canada by driving
rate increases at a level that exceeded the national rate growth, which was
2.7%. Several Canadian markets, including Montreal and Vancouver, posted
RevPAR increases.
Peru continues to show strong performance following the
pandemic. It experienced one of the largest RevPAR increases (14.2%) in January
due to increases in both occupancy and rate, with more coming from rate. This
country has seen strong corporate demand and groups coming back, contributing
to the growth across the country, but also specifically in markets like Lima,
where RevPAR growth exceeded 11%.
The Dominican Republic posted a double-digit RevPAR increase
in January as well, at 13%. Unlike several of the other top countries in this
region, this was driven by an increase on both the occupancy and rate side.
Occupancy growth at nearly 5% was the second highest occupancy gain based on
countries in the Americas, just behind Panama (at 8.5%). Rates grew nearly 8%
this month, helping lift RevPAR growth to double-digit levels.
In Colombia, slight occupancy growth paired with stronger
rate growth lifted RevPAR up 8% YOY. Bogota contributed to this lift, with an
increase in rate (7.4%) that exceeded the national average. However, markets
like Cartagena, for example, are seeing weekend demand slowdowns due to
economic concerns. As a result, this market grew rate half a percentage point YOY.