STR, Tourism Economics Upgrade 2021 U.S. Hotel Forecast on Demand Surge

STR and Tourism Economics have upgraded their 2021 U.S. hotel forecast for the second time in three months, citing a surge in demand and "room rates hitting an all-time high on a nominal basis," STR president Amanda Hite said in a statement. 

The companies, however, tempered their growth projections for 2022. Despite the momentum in 2021, there is concern demand will recede after the summer. 

"In normal years, summer leisure demand would be supplanted by business travel and large corporate events, but with more concern around the delta variant as well as delays in companies returning their employees to offices, it's possible that businesses wait until early 2022 to put their people back on the road," Hite said. "Even though we expect some of that demand to shift into 2022, we brought our projections down in comparison with a stronger-than-expected 2021."