Hotel prices reach record high in Canada

Hotel prices have reached a record high in Canada, according to real estate data company CoStar.

It said that the average daily hotel rate and revenue per available room were the highest for any year on record in 2024 in Canada.

The national occupancy level was also the highest since 2018.

“Revenue per available room growth was strongest during the fourth quarter, bolstered by Taylor Swift shows in Toronto and Vancouver, but the country’s annual growth rate slowed in comparison with 2023,” added Laura Baxter, CoStar Group’s director of hospitality analytics for Canada.

“The softening in growth reflects weaker economic conditions as well as strong comparables from the year prior.”

The national occupancy level was 65.7 per cent, up 0.1 per cent compared to 2023.

The average daily rate was $208.71, marking a 4.3 per cent jump.

And revenue per available room was $137.17, up by 4.4 per cent.

“Room rates once again outpaced inflation, while supply and demand were flat year over year,” Baxter said. 

“Increases in transient demand and weekday results signaled continued strength in business travel, counterbalancing weakness in group demand and flat performance on weekends.”

Among major markets, Vancouver had the highest occupancy at 78.2 per cent, but that was still down by 0.4 per cent compared to 2023, CoStar said.

And among the provinces and territories Manitoba had the highest occupancy at 69 per cent, but that was down by 4.1 per cent compared to 2023.

The lowest occupancy among provinces was in Prince Edward Island at just 54.7 per cent, down 6.9 per cent from the previous year.

Edmonton had the lowest occupancy at the market level, CoStar said, at 58.5 per cent, which was up by 3.4 per cent.