August 2021 was the best month for hotel demand in Anchorage ever, improving 73% from 2020, and barely eclipsing the mark set in 2019. While the rebound in demand is encouraging, it's likely that some of the demand is not spurred by out-of-community visitation. Based on Q2 bed tax reports from the municipality of Anchorage, a higher-than-usual percentage of rooms - at least through June - were exempt from bed tax. Rooms purchased by local, state, and federal government agencies are typically exempt from paying bed tax, as are stays of 30 days or more.
Hotel occupancy for the month was 89%. August also continued a remarkable recovery in ADR this summer. Averaging $215, rate improved 73% from August 2020 and 2% from 2019. Rate traditionally is slower to improve in a recovery than other metrics.
