Fat Tuesday month got a little fatter for New Orleans hoteliers this year, as the Big Easy had the largest year-over-year revenue jump among the largest 25 U.S. markets in February, according to Smith Travel Research (STR).
New Orleans hotels' revenue per available room (RevPAR) surged 33% from a year earlier, beating out Oahu's 24% jump and Houston's 21% increase. Norfolk-Virginia Beach was the only major U.S. market to have a RevPAR decline.
Overall, U.S. RevPAR in February was $63.04, which marked a 6.4% increase from a year earlier but also a slowdown in growth from January's growth rate of almost 9%. Room rates rose 4.4% from a year earlier, while occupancy advanced two percentage points to 58.5%.
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