The area hotel market experienced a strong September thanks to help from a pair of Beyonce concerts and several significant conferences.

Occupancy market-wide was 59.5% in September, up 5.8% from the same month a year ago. Average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased 5.4% and 11.5% respectively over September 2022.

Driving performance: The True Value Fall Reunion conference that took place September 13-16 at the George R. Brown Convention Center (GRB) and the Breakbulk Americas conference that ran September 26 – 28 also at the GRB each brought more than 4,000 attendees to Downtown.

Meanwhile Beyonce’s two-night Renaissance World Tour stop in Houston helped bolster performance in another part of town. Hotels in the Medical Center/NRG submarket logged occupancy of 81.3% for the two nights of the tour (occupancy on Saturday led Sunday by 10 points). Revenues in that submarket hit $2.5 million, an increase of 182% over the comparable weekend in 2022. The average daily rate in the submarket on Saturday was $241—one of the highest nightly rates this year.

A broader view: Metro hotel occupancy averaged 61.1% in the first nine months of the year, up 7.8% compared with the same period a year ago. ADR and RevPAR were up 7.5% and 15.9% respectively so far this year compared with 2022.

Looking at key submarkets:

• Occupancy in Downtown/CBD was 60.6% in the first nine months of 2023, up 13.9% from a year earlier. ADR was up 8.7% while RevPAR rose 23.8% from a year ago. Demand in the CBD is up 13.9% from a year ago.
• The Galleria submarket has experienced the strongest year-over-year increase in occupancy so far this year, with a 17.8% uptick to 58.9% occupancy. ADR was up 5% and RevPAR increased 23.7%. Demand in the Galleria area rose 10% year-over-year.
• The Medical Center/NRG area saw occupancy climb to 60.5%, up 7.7% from the first nine months of 2022. ADR and RePAR were up 10.5% and 19% respectively. Demand in the submarket is up 12.9% this year.
• The North Houston/Woodlands submarket experienced a 5.6% increase in occupancy so far this year to an average of 62.5%. Demand in that area increased 7.5% year-over-year with ADR up 6.6% and RevPAR up 12.5% year-over-year.