Temporary hotel closures have had a particular impact on the London market during the pandemic. Shown here is The Ritz London, which remains temporarily closed. — Photo by CoStar Group, Inc.

The factors that drive the pricing of hotel rooms across the globe become more pronounced during a downturn, but the ways in which those factors play out have shifted due to the COVID-19 pandemic — a crisis like no other the hotel industry has experienced.

Some of those shifts, while greater in magnitude, are already following patterns established in past downturns, but time will tell if other changes will be longer-lasting or even permanent, according to Matthew Burke, STR's regional manager, Pacific, and Hannah Smith, senior consultant at STR. STR is CoStar's hospitality analytics firm.

During a session titled "Rate Psychology in the Pandemic," as part of the online Hotel Data Conference: Global Edition, Smith and Burke discussed three key factors driving hotel pricing: Supply, demand and competitor behavior.

Read the full article at CoStar Group, Inc.