Hotel rates in 2014 highest ever

Hotel rates in 2014 highest ever

If hotel rates seemed a bit higher last year, it wasn’t your imagination.

The average U.S. hotel rate in 2014 was the highest ever — up 4.6 percent to $115 a night — and industry experts are predicting a 5.2 percent increase by the end of this year.

On top of higher rates, you can also expect hotels to add more guest charges.

A new report by STR Inc., a hospitality research firm, also shows that the average revenue collected by hotels for each available room rose 8.3 percent to a record $74, and occupancy jumped 3.6 percent to 64.4 percent.

The highest room rates in 2014 were in New York, where hotel guests paid an average of $263 a night, according to STR. The second-highest average rate ($221 a night) was on Oahu island in Hawaii ($221), followed by San Francisco ($207) and Miami ($185).

Geography quiz

Q. What is the smallest sovereign country on the mainland of South America?

A. Suriname. Though French Guiana, at a little more than 32,000 square miles, is smaller than Suriname’s nearly 64,000 square miles, it is an overseas department of France and not an independent country.

Wyoming tourists

CHEYENNE, Wyo.

A record 10.1 million people visited Wyoming last year, accounting for an estimated $3.3 billion of the state’s economy.

The number of people visiting Wyoming in 2014 was up 11 percent from 9.07 million in 2014.

It was the highest percentage growth in one year since tracking began in 1998. Those tourists generated about $159 million in local and state tax revenues, an increase of 10.8 percent from $144 million in 2013.

Visitors scarce at some parks

ANCHORAGE, Alaska

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park saw a record number of visitors in 2014, but the least-visited five parks in Alaska saw fewer than 2,000 guests, new figures show.

The National Park Service figures show there were no visitors to three national parks in remote northwest Alaska — Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Kobuk Valley National Park and Noatak National Preserve, the Alaska Dispatch News reported last week.

Overall, national parks drew visitors in record numbers throughout the country, including 2.7 million visitors to Alaska parks, the agency said.

The five most-accessible Alaska parks attracted about 95 percent of Alaska park visitors. Southeast Alaska parks led the way.

Combined dispatches