Although just one night, New Year’s Eve is a major performance driver for the hotel industry. This year, however, many global markets saw lower year-over-year performance because the holiday fell on a Tuesday night (midweek) as opposed to a Sunday (long weekend) in 2023. One notable exception was Rio de Janeiro, where New Year’s Eve revenue per available room (RevPAR) advanced by more than 35% to $610, largely due to a 93% occupancy level. It is important to understand different day-of-week trends for each holiday to leverage high-demand periods.

Of course, hoteliers need more than a couple of holiday nights to make budget. Looking ahead at the rest of Q1, Rio’s hotels are half-full with occupancy on the books at 51% (+21% from last year’s bookings pace). Hoteliers that leverage historical and forward-looking data will have an advantage in making this quarter and the rest of the year a success.