To account for the calendar shift in the Thanksgiving holiday this year, these two weeks—November 17–23 and November 24–30—are analyzed together. This approach provides a clearer year-over-year comparison by encompassing the full holiday period rather than focusing on a single week.
San Diego hotels sold a combined 573,000 room nights over these two weeks, approximately 67,000 more than the same period last year. This strong showing extends a trend of improved performance that began in mid-October. Our forecast of reaching 17.4 million room nights in 2024 rested on the assumption that October and November would outpace 2023. Thanks to sustained demand throughout the fall, we are now roughly 100,000 room nights ahead of that target, barring any unexpected (and significant) softening in December.
Average Daily Rates (ADR) have also consistently exceeded 2023 levels by $5 to $30 over the past few weeks, contributing to higher RevPAR and further cementing our strong performance this season.
Occupancy during November 17–23 averaged 67.9%, a 19.2% year-over-year increase due to the Thanksgiving holiday timing. Notably, even Thanksgiving week itself, at 58.0% occupancy, was up 4.5% compared to last year’s same week, which did not include a holiday. This is a meaningful milestone, signaling robust travel demand through the holiday period, boosted in a big way by a holiday-week event at the Convention Center.
Although these gains are significant locally, San Diego’s position among other major U.S. markets and our Western competitive set remained moderate. For the first week, we placed 12th among the top 25 U.S. markets and 5th in the Western set. Within the city, Downtown led with 77.4% occupancy, followed by UTC (75.4%) and Point Loma–Airport (71.9%). During Thanksgiving week, at 58.0% occupancy, we ranked 8th among the top 25 U.S. markets and 3rd in the Western set. Mission Bay topped the local submarkets at 65.0%, followed by Point Loma–Airport (59.9%) and UTC (59.0%).
Group business at upscale properties reached about 75,000 room nights over these two weeks, about 20,000 more than the same period in 2023. Group ADR generally trended higher as well, though the Thanksgiving holiday did temper rates slightly.
The Convention Center hosted two main events across these weeks—one of which took place during the holiday—together contributing roughly 24,500 room nights to the market. This activity further supported the strong year-over-year gains we’ve observed.
Overall, San Diego’s hotel performance for the latter half of November was notably stronger than in 2023, reinforcing our optimistic outlook as we approach the end of the year.
View the complete hotel performance report here.
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