Each month we collect performance data on over 43,000 hotels representing more than 5.7 million rooms. This data comes to us from chain headquarters, management companies, owners and directly from independent hotels. The data is checked for accuracy and for adherence to our reporting guidelines.

We collect three pieces of data either on a monthly, weekly or daily basis: rooms available, rooms sold and net room revenue. We also collect data broken down by source of business (transient, group and contract) and source of revenue (room, F&B and other), known as segmentation data. On an annual basis we collect profitability data including costs by department and profit.

Our Census Department is continuously maintaining and verifying our database. Each hotel in our census is contacted at least once per year to corroborate information. Hotel companies inform us of new hotels and conversions in and out of their brand. We also receive information from Convention and Visitors Bureaus, periodicals, consultant reviews and developers.

As an independent third party, we focus on providing historic performance data. We are forecasting performance data on a high level in the U.S. (scales, total country). In conjunction with e-forecasting, an international economic research and consulting firm, we offer Market Forecast reports for markets outside North America. While we take reasonable steps to provide accurate data, the forecast information we provide is not a guarantee of future events or performance. We never comment on specific hotels, chains or competitive chains or give advice on how to run a hotel.

No. We take every precaution to maintain data confidentiality. Strict controls are maintained in each processing step to ensure that data is handled responsibly. We do not release individual hotel, brand or company specific data.

If you are affiliated with a chain, please contact your corporate office. Almost all major chains, management and ownership companies have made provisions for their hotels to participate. For independent hotels, there are two ways to participate: Our FREE Hotel Survey provides a market performance report to those hotels that submit data. Also, for a small fee, STAR Reports provide your performance data in comparison to a competitive set of your choosing. Please contact your regional office for pricing of STAR Reports or to enroll in either program. Our Products section has more details and sample reports.

Branded hotels should contact their corporate office or management company to change the distribution list. Independent hotels should contact us directly at indv@smithtravelresearch.com (North America) or info@strglobal.com (outside North America).

The Hotel Market Forecast takes two main components, STR Global historic market data and general economic indicators, and combines them to predict the behaviour of the hotels in each market.  STR Global historic data is partnered with a leading forecasting company in the US, eforecasting.com, who provide the economic model and analysis.  Each market uses the same indicators, but the model used places different importance to specific indicators dependant on the market.  E.g. as London accommodates many international visitors, currency exchange will be a more significant indicator than in Manchester, as this market is driven predominately by domestic demand.   Each market is handled uniquely and has its own forecast model that is the best fit and provides the highest rate of forecast accuracy.

Data should be submitted via the STR Global website, with full available rooms, zero rooms sold and zero revenue.

Data does not need to be submitted for a seasonal closing. STR will need to be notified of the closing.

Our occupancy, ADR and RevPAR indexes are excellent measurements of fair share. See Glossary for a detailed explanation of indexes.

We use last year’s data to calculate year over year percent change and to check the accuracy of previously submitted data.

This column is blank when current and/or historical data has not been received.

Hotel and competitive set performance changes are measured against the same period last year. The percent change is calculated using the following formula: (This Year-Last Year) / Last Year

The data for this year vs. the same period last year may vary, depending on a number of factors such as holidays, special events and promotions.

Pipeline data details existing hotel supply and new hotel development for the subject property's market. Construction data is gathered from the major chains and management companies as well as TWR/Dodge Construction, tracking all stages of development. This data is widely used by investment banks, development groups and hotel owners to estimate future supply growth and track supply changes in the market.

Your hotel’s performance is ranked against the other hotels in your competitive set. If your hotel’s RevPAR rank is “2 of 6,” that means your hotel’s RevPAR was second highest of the six hotels in your competitive set.

An index indicates your "piece of the pie" and measures a hotel’s performance relative to an aggregated grouping of hotels (e.g., competitive set, submarket, market). We utilize indexes to measure performance in three key areas: Occupancy, ADR and RevPAR.

Running 28 days is the most recent 28 days of historical performance. The running 28 day numbers are based on the most current 28-day period, ending with the last day included in the weekly report.

It stands for running month-to-date. The MTD numbers are based on a calendar month and include all days of the same month, through the most recent calendar day included in the report. If the most recent week’s reporting includes data in two calendar months, the MTD numbers only include data from the recently ended month.

Census Rooms are the number of rooms collected and stored in our Hotel Census Database. Sample Rooms are the portion of the total census from which we receive performance data.

If you are a branded hotel, please contact your chain or management company representative. Independent hotels should contact one of our Client Services representatives at indv@smithtravelresearch.com (North America) or info@strglobal.com (outside North America).

You can select the 'Running' option for Running-7 day, Running-28 day, Running-3 month, Running-12 month or X days and months.   The report will show you each day or month as a sum of the days/months previously plus itself.  E.g. a Running-3 month period for a timeframe of Jan to July will show you a number of Jan which is the sum of Nov, Dec and Jan.  July will be a sum of May, June and July.  This is useful to remove the seasonality out of the results and to identify long-term trends.

Our default is to exclude your hotel’s numbers in the comp set data on the STAR report. Upon request, we can include the subject hotel within the comp set. Check the top of your report under the title to determine whether or not your hotel is included. On daily and weekly reports, your hotel is always excluded from the comp set.

Your comp set did not include sufficient data for reporting. A minimum of three hotels (North America) or four hotels (outside North America) excluding the subject hotel must report data in order for us to provide comp set performance.

If we did not receive last year's data for the corresponding month or day for at least three of the hotels in your comp set (four hotels outside North America), we are unable to process the percent change.

Inside North America, we must receive data from at least three hotels in your selected set to calculate comp set numbers. Outside North America, we must receive data from at least four hotels in your selected set to calculate comp set numbers. If less than the minimum number of hotels report, your comparison will default first to submarket scale and then, if still insufficient, market scale. Please see the glossary for definitions of these terms. Check the top of your report under the title to determine which comparison is being made.

Branded hotels must contact their corporate office to make any changes. Independent hotels may contact us directly at indv@smithtravelresearch.com (North-America) or info@strglobal.com (outside North America). Any request to modify your comp set must include at least two changes to protect confidentiality.

We are continually soliciting hotels to participate in our programs. If a hotel in your comp set fails to report data, we estimate their performance at the average of the reporting hotels in the comp set. If a hotel closes, its data is not estimated in your comp set numbers. If a closing reduces your comp set hotel count to less than four, the comp set will be insufficient and the column will be blank. Please contact us for more specific methodology questions. support@smithtravelresearch.com