Following Hurricane Michael, markets in Florida hit hardest by the storm reported double-digit increases in demand (room nights sold) and revenue per available room (RevPAR), according to an analysis by STR's Consulting & Analytics team.

When looking at the 10-day period (11 October through 20 October) after Hurricane Michael made landfall, the Florida Panhandle market saw a 36.1% increase in demand. Typically, markets will see demand drop ahead of a major storm due to evacuations, but the Florida Panhandle reported only a 5.1% decrease in demand when the initial warning was issued on 8 October.

"The Florida data reflects the comparison with the post-Hurricane Irma time period in Central and Southern Florida last year," said Emmy Hise, STR's senior consultant. "A month after Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida, strong demand was still visible in the state. Now, one year later, demand appears to be dropping, but it is actually at a normal level when factoring in the significant demand growth from the previous year."

As expected, with the exception of the Albany/Southwest, GA submarket, the highest year-over-year RevPAR increases took place in the Florida Panhandle submarkets. The most significant decreases in the Florida submarkets were mainly due to inflated demand from the previous year.

Top and bottom five submarkets ranked by year-over-year RevPAR comparison:

Florida Panhandle hotel markets see performance jump following Hurricane Michael — Photo by STRFlorida Panhandle hotel markets see performance jump following Hurricane Michael — Photo by STR
Florida Panhandle hotel markets see performance jump following Hurricane Michael — Photo by STR
Florida Panhandle hotel markets see performance jump following Hurricane Michael — Photo by STRFlorida Panhandle hotel markets see performance jump following Hurricane Michael — Photo by STR
Florida Panhandle hotel markets see performance jump following Hurricane Michael — Photo by STR

About STR

STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for the global hospitality industry. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 15 countries with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, an international headquarters in London, and an Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. STR was acquired in October 2019 by CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces. For more information, please visit str.com and costargroup.com.