San Diego’s hotel performance in 2024 continues to impress, with strong results both year-to-date and in October. Through October, San Diego County hotels have sold 14.9 million room nights, a 1.2% increase over the same period in 2023. Occupancy has averaged 76.0%, ranking third among the top twenty-five markets and firmly securing first place in the western competitive set, well ahead of Los Angeles (72.9%). Notably, independent and luxury chains have driven much of this year-to-date growth, reflecting strong demand among higher-income travelers.
October built on this momentum, with 1.5 million room nights sold, a 3.2% year-over-year increase following a notably weak October in 2023. At 75.8% occupancy, San Diego ranked fourth among the top twenty-five markets and maintained its first-place standing in the western competitive set, narrowly ahead of Los Angeles. While independent and luxury chains continued to perform well in October, the strongest growth in occupancy came from upper midscale chains (+6.4% YoY) while midscale chains logged a solid +5.0% YoY improvement, showing broad-based strength across market segments.
The Convention Center played a key role in both year-to-date and October performance, hosting fifty events so far in 2024 and contributing 938,526 room nights to the market, including 131,144 room nights from seven primary events in October alone. Group demand at upscale-plus properties has been robust, with 2.2 million group room nights booked year-to-date at an average rate of $289 per night, and October group bookings averaging $298 per night with 33.6% occupancy—a 1.7% year-over-year increase.
San Diego’s market share further underscores our leadership, with demand capturing 16.8% of the western competitive set so far in FY25 while supply accounts for only 15.5%. This reflects the market’s ability to drive exceptional performance beyond its proportion of available rooms. With no western competitor poised to overtake us in 2024, our leadership in the competitive set is virtually guaranteed barring an unexpected surge in performance from Los Angeles, Seattle, or Orange County. Additionally, with weekly November data confirming continued strength, we are firmly on track to meet the 2024 forecast of 17.4 million room nights.
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