When inspecting U.S. lodging demand, it may be simplified into three broad classes: leisure, company, and group. Every of those segments has its personal dynamics, with totally different financial, social, and technological elements influencing the propensity to journey. Additional complicating the panorama are advances in know-how, that are reshaping not solely how folks work and meet but in addition the expectations of vacationers, notably throughout the company and group segments.
Over the previous 15 years, the U.S. lodging business’s demand combine has undergone a elementary shift. What was as soon as a market dominated by company and group journey is now led by leisure. Previous to 2015, company and group demand accounted for properly over half of all room nights, and Wednesday was constantly the strongest occupancy night time of the week, far forward of Saturday. In the present day, that sample has flipped. Friday and Saturday now lead occupancy, whereas Wednesday has slipped into third place, reflecting the rise of leisure journey and the decline of conventional enterprise journey habits.
Within the final three years, transient leisure vacationers have represented roughly 55 p.c of U.S. resort demand, with company and group journey now secondary. As proven within the high chart on the going through web page, demand traits for each company and group segments are presently operating beneath the identical interval in 2024. Including to this weak spot are sharp declines in government-related journey, which has traditionally supported company demand. For resort operators, this shift implies that the bottom of reliable weekday demand has eroded, requiring new methods to fill midweek gaps.
The pandemic vastly accelerated this transition. Digital assembly know-how had been obtainable for years, however adoption surged in 2020 when in-person interactions turned unattainable. As soon as companies realized they may change expensive journey with environment friendly distant platforms, many institutionalized the observe. The cultural shift has been profound: firms, already cautious in rebuilding journey budgets after downturns, now have a structural motive to maintain them constrained. This dynamic is unlikely to reverse within the close to time period, notably as hybrid work fashions persist and know-how continues to enhance.
For the reason that post-pandemic restoration, company demand has plateaued at about 90 p.c of pre-2020 ranges, with little indication of additional progress. Because the chart beneath illustrates, company room nights have really fallen one other 3 p.c thus far in 2025 (by means of Sept. 13) in contrast with the identical interval in 2024. Wanting forward, reservations on the books by means of mid-October recommend company demand will stay flat year-over-year. For resort income managers, this requires sharper deal with cultivating various segments, corresponding to project-based enterprise, small conferences, and blended bleisure journey.
Group journey adopted a special trajectory. After a steep pandemic decline, conferences and occasions rebounded strongly, and by 2024 demand had returned to 2019 ranges. But in 2025, momentum has stalled. Starting within the second quarter, group demand started to say no year-over-year, and thru mid-September, it’s down about 4 p.c. The ahead outlook can be weaker than in 2024. Nonetheless, teams stay extra dependable than company or leisure segments, as giant conferences are not often canceled outright. For operators, group demand presents an anchor within the demand combine, even when it now not offers the identical progress carry as in prior years.
Taken collectively, these shifts spotlight an business in transition. Leisure journey continues to be the dominant driver of occupancy, however it’s extremely seasonal and value delicate. Company journey is stabilizing at a completely decrease stage, whereas teams are plateauing after a brief post-pandemic rebound. For hoteliers, this implies success will rely upon extra refined segmentation, inventive midweek programming, and stronger partnerships with assembly planners and company journey consumers. The winners on this surroundings will likely be those that adapt to a requirement combine that appears basically totally different than it did only a decade in the past.
