The fourth quarter of 2023 demonstrated that group business in 10 of the top markets in the U.S. has recovered 110% compared to the same time in 2019, according to the Hospitality Group and Business Performance Index from Knowland and Amadeus. Group bookings are calculated using occupancy and ADR.
The Index combines event data from Knowland with hotel booking data from Amadeus’ Demand360+ to provide individual and aggregate views of the key drivers of hotel performance and is updated quarterly. Q4 data shows that the top 20 markets have reached 100% of 2019 and 10 of those have reached 110% or more, including:
Las Vegas 144.1%
Phoenix 123.9%
San Diego 122.5%
Tampa 121.3%
Boston 120.3%
Austin 116.6%
Miami 115.4%
San Antonio 112%
Seattle 110.9%
Los Angeles 110%
Key insights from the index are as follows:
Group business was up across key metrics: Q4 group business achieved a 110% health index by consuming 95.5% of the group rooms sold in 2019 and increasing the ADR by 14.8%. Overall growth in 2023 was 103%, with 92.5% of group rooms sold in 2019, increasing the average rate by 11.7%.
The volume of smaller groups provides stability: The meetings and event business recovered to 91.9% in Q4 as compared to 2019, with end-of-year recovery at 91.2%. Today, 70.0% of events have 200 attendees or less, and notably, smaller meetings of less than 25 attendees have experienced the most growth, with a 19% increase since 2019.
Corporate groups continue to drive meeting and event volume: The larger percentage of events in the corporate segment bodes well for business travel. In 2023, corporate segment events made up a larger share than in prior years. In Q4 2023, 63.9% of event days were corporate. For the full year of 2023, that was 58.4% compared to 2019 at 57.3%.
The negotiated rate index strengthened in Q4, exceeding all prior quarters in 2023: The negotiated index achieved a 90.2% health index by consuming 84% of the negotiated rooms sold in 2019 and increasing the average rate by 7.3%.
Segments normalize across the board: The overall health index for Q4 is 94.5%, with group, negotiated and events stabilizing at 90% or more compared to 2019.
