NATIONAL REPORT—Based on hotel bookings for the week of Nov. 22-28, Amadeus sees potential improvement in Thanksgiving holiday forward-looking occupancy compared to Labor Day. As Americans approach what is traditionally the busiest travel day of the year—the day before Thanksgiving—many people want to know if it will maintain its status, albeit under very different circumstances as COVID-19 cases continue to rise again. Amadeus, with its ability to track forward-looking occupancy in major markets around the world, is seeing a positive trend in hotel bookings the week of U.S. Thanksgiving. While overall occupancy remains below 2019, there are many areas showing higher occupancy levels one week out, indicating the 0-7 day booking window has increased slightly.
The top Thanksgiving destinations with over 50% hotel occupancy are:
- Moab, UT
- Sedona, AZ
- Key West, FL
- George, UT
- Sierra Vista, AZ
- McAllen, TX
- Vail, CO
- Prescott, AZ
- Brownville, TX
- Santa Barbara, CA
Destinations in national park hot spots continue to be popular with Moab and Sedona at the top of the list and nearing 80% occupancy. Both have access to parks known for the red rock formations, Arches National Park and Red Rock State Park, respectively.
“For the summer holidays of Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day, we saw a steady occupancy build-up from weeks 3 to 2 to 1, with Labor Day at a final occupancy of 41%,” said Katie Moro, VP, data partnerships, hospitality, Amadeus. “For Thanksgiving, occupancy levels are trending higher compared to the summer holidays, and we are encouraged by seeing a number of markets with occupancy above 50% and in some cases nearing 80%.”
Where are these people coming from? Travelers who have booked trips with a hotel stay appear to be taking a break from big cities like New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas and Chicago, for destinations with wide, open spaces.
