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Markets such as Jacksonville , Savannah , Charleston , San Diego , Fort Lauderdale , and Virginia Beach achieved some of the highest occupancy levels during the summer of 2021 and typify this trend . Make no mistake , lodging business is down almost everywhere in the U . S . However , leisure markets have experienced a lesser decline . Supporting this thesis is the fact that over 48 % of the survey respondents perceive that leisure travel is the main demand driver for their hotel in 2022 . Another 32 % of respondents indicated that some combination of leisure , corporate or group meeting demand will be the main demand driver in 2022 .
While our research did not seek to specify what kinds of groups ( corporate , association , large , small , regional , leisure ) are making reservations for 2022 , the research did indicate that 83 % of the respondents stated that they are receiving group reservations for 2022 . This was somewhat surprising , considering the continuous outbreaks of variants to the COVID-19 discretionary spending levels and other minor economic indicators , the U . S . lodging sector RevPAR is anticipated to return to 2019 levels by 2025 . Some markets , such as leisure destinations , will return sooner and other markets , such as downtown urban core group meeting destinations , will lag .
Recent performance , as reported by Kalibri Labs , indicates that markets with high leisure demand have outperformed other markets in the U . S ., particularly markets that have high regional “ drive ” business . virus . Follow-up conversations with participants found that many groups are booking and making plans for 2022 . It remains tentative and tenuous if these bookings actualize .
As an industry , we have noticed collectively that group business continues to be tentative and taking a “ wait and see ” posture . We are confident that as more protocols around the virus are developed , and as groups adapt and adopt policies for their own meetings , events will return . Again , followup conversations with participants indicated that corporate groups and associations want and need to “ gather ” for annual functions and general business
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