Duval County hotel occupancy was 52.5% in December, a loss of 16.1% compared with December 2019.
That’s better than the overall U.S. occupancy, at 36.7%, according to STR, a national hotel business analysis firm.
Duval County’s occupancy also was higher than the Florida average of 46.6%.
Miami had the state’s highest occupancy among STR’s top 25 cities at 48.8%, followed by Tampa at 48.4%.
The average room rate in Duval County was $75.49, a decline of $14. Revenue per room was $39.60, a loss of 28.9% compared with December 2019.
Travel restrictions and the business shutdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial negative effect on the hotel business in 2020.
Duval County’s occupancy for 2020 was 55.2%, a loss of 24.6% from 2019.
Revenue per room was $46.27, down $25.74 from 2019.
In 2020, U.S. occupancy fell to 44%, down 33% from 2019. Revenue per room dropped 47.5% to $45.48.
“It was the single worst year in the 30-year history of STR,” said Jan Freitag, senior vice president of lodging insights.