New Orleans and Las Vegas Are Saving America’s Hotel Industry in 2026: The Shocking Numbers the Rest of the Country Can’t Match

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In mid‑February 2026, the U.S. hotel sector is being shown to be in a phase of modest but genuine recovery. CoStar’s weekly and monthly data indicate that New Orleans and Las Vegas are standing out with event‑driven spikes, while the national picture is steadily improving after a softer 2025. The week of 15–21 February 2026 is being treated as a particularly useful snapshot of this trend, with both national metrics and city‑level results pointing in a consistent direction.

National Performance for 15–21 February 2026

For the week ending 21 February 2026, CoStar’s official release is reporting that the U.S. hotel industry achieved year‑over‑year gains on all three core performance indicators. Occupancy for the period is being recorded at 62.2 percent, up 3.1 percent compared with the same week in 2025. Average daily rate, or ADR, is being posted at 164.56 USD, reflecting a 3.0 percent rise. Revenue per available room, or RevPAR, is reaching 102.35 USD, up 6.2 percent year over year.

These increases are being described as positive year‑over‑year comparisons and are being interpreted as evidence that demand and pricing power are both improving simultaneously. CoStar is also noting that these weekly figures are drawn from a very large global sample, comprising approximately 94,000 properties and 12 million rooms, which underpins the credibility and breadth of the dataset. Media and analysts are being directed toward costargroup.com and the STR Benchmark press‑release page for more detail and context.

Standout and Struggling Markets in the Top 25

Within the Top 25 U.S. hotel markets, three cities are being singled out as notable outliers: New Orleans, Las Vegas and Boston. These markets are collectively illustrating how event calendars and local conditions can amplify or dampen the broader national recovery trend.

New Orleans is being presented as the clear leader on rate and RevPAR gains. ADR in the market is rising by 14.4 percent to reach 225.77 USD, the largest ADR increase among the Top 25. RevPAR is climbing even more sharply, up 31.4 percent to 177.42 USD, the strongest RevPAR growth in the group. CoStar explicitly notes that this performance is being helped by Mardi Gras, which remains one of the most important annual demand drivers for the city.

Las Vegas, by contrast, is taking the lead on occupancy growth. For the week, occupancy in the market is being reported at 83.3 percent, representing a 20.0 percent lift year over year. This is being identified as the highest occupancy gain among the Top 25 markets, and the level itself is among the highest nationally. RevPAR in Las Vegas is being recorded at 152.79 USD, up 28.6 percent compared with the prior year, second only to New Orleans in terms of RevPAR growth. Events including the WVC Annual Conference, MAGIC Las Vegas and PROJECT Las Vegas are being cited as the primary drivers of this surge.

Boston is being highlighted as the weakest performer among the Top 25. The city is experiencing declines across all three key metrics. Occupancy is falling by 14.4 percent to 56.1 percent. ADR is decreasing by 6.7 percent to 158.28 USD. RevPAR is dropping by 20.1 percent to 88.75 USD. Hospitality Net, Hotel Online, HFTP and other trade outlets are reproducing these figures and reinforcing the hierarchy observed by CoStar: New Orleans and Las Vegas are leading growth, Boston is lagging, and the remaining Top 25 markets are falling within these bounds without being individually profiled.

Las Vegas: Event Compression Drives Occupancy and RevPAR

The outperformance of Las Vegas during the week of 15–21 February 2026 is being traced directly to a dense and business‑heavy events calendar. CoStar’s data show that occupancy in Las Vegas is reaching 83.3 percent, up 20.0 percent year over year, while RevPAR is rising 28.6 percent to 152.79 USD. ADR is not specified in the headline metrics, but the fact that RevPAR growth exceeds occupancy growth implies a mid‑ to high‑single‑digit increase in rate as well.

Several large events are being identified as the sources of this compression. The WVC Annual Conference is being held at convention facilities in the city, bringing in veterinary professionals and exhibitors. MAGIC Las Vegas, a major fashion and apparel trade show, is being staged at the Las Vegas Convention Center from 17 to 19 February 2026. PROJECT Las Vegas, a contemporary fashion event, is being co‑located on those same dates.

Official travel and accommodation pages for MAGIC and PROJECT show that OnPeak, acting as the official housing partner, is managing designated hotel blocks and shuttle services. This arrangement channels large numbers of attendees into specific contracted properties across both Strip and off‑Strip locations, significantly tightening available room supply. The overlay of these business events on top of the city’s normal leisure demand is producing a 20‑point occupancy lift and a nearly 29 percent RevPAR increase, with the Las Vegas spike being volume‑driven first, through more rooms sold, and rate‑driven second, through stronger yields on those rooms.

New Orleans: Mardi Gras, Calendar Effects and Recovery

New Orleans is being confirmed by CoStar as recording the largest ADR and RevPAR gains among the Top 25 markets for this period. ADR is moving up 14.4 percent to 225.77 USD, while RevPAR is increasing 31.4 percent to 177.42 USD, with performance being explicitly described as helped by Mardi Gras.

A deeper CoStar analytics piece is providing additional insight into why this surge is extending beyond a single parade night. The analysis notes that New Orleans is experiencing its first positive RevPAR week since New Year’s as Mardi Gras aligns with Presidents Day weekend, creating a prolonged high‑demand window rather than a single peak evening. Over the full week, RevPAR is rising 31.4 percent year over year, supported by a 138.6 percent RevPAR increase from Sunday through Fat Tuesday compared with the previous year.

During the core Mardi Gras days, from Friday through Tuesday, occupancy is reaching 87.9 percent, which is 6 percentage points higher than during the prior year’s Mardi Gras period. Sunday occupancy is rising even more strongly, up 9.3 percentage points, because the holiday weekend and parade schedule are aligning more favorably in 2026 than in 2025.

These dynamics are being supplemented by structural factors. Mardi Gras continues to be one of the city’s highest‑demand seasons, bringing significant domestic and international leisure traffic. Conventions and meetings around the Mardi Gras window are often scheduled to take advantage of the festive period, adding demand on shoulder days and further tightening availability, even if individual events are not named in every weekly summary.

Comparative effects are also important. CoStar and Asian Hospitality highlight that 2025 was the first full year since 2020 in which U.S. RevPAR declined overall, so percentage gains in 2026 can appear outsized wherever events have fully normalized. At the same time, CoStar and Tourism Economics are projecting modest ADR growth and improving travel confidence for 2026, giving markets such as New Orleans more room to push rate during marquee events.

When these factors are combined—better calendar alignment, robust leisure demand, typical Mardi Gras compression and a softer 2025 comparison week—New Orleans hotels are being able to sustain elevated rates across multiple days rather than just one main parade, generating the double‑digit ADR growth and strong RevPAR gains reported by CoStar.

RevPAR Trends Since January 2026 and the March Outlook

The broader context for these city‑level spikes is being provided by CoStar’s monthly and weekly data for the national market. For January 2026, U.S. occupancy is being recorded at 52.4 percent, a slight decline of 0.2 percent year over year. ADR is being reported at 152.09 USD, up 0.6 percent, and RevPAR at 79.69 USD, up 0.4 percent. CoStar notes that January 2026 represents the first month of positive RevPAR growth in the United States since March 2025, marking an important turning point after full‑year declines in 2025.

In early February 2026, another CoStar article characterizes U.S. hotels as roaring back to start the month. For the first week of February, occupancy is rising to 56.4 percent and ADR is increasing by 1.7 percent year over year, which is pushing RevPAR higher. Weekday RevPAR is rising 3.4 percent, driven largely by a 2.9 percent ADR gain, while weekend RevPAR is up 1.4 percent as demand strengthens.

By the time the week ending 21 February 2026 is reached, national metrics have improved to the 62.2 percent occupancy, 164.56 USD ADR and 102.35 USD RevPAR already mentioned. Hotel Dive and Asian Hospitality interpret these patterns—January’s modest RevPAR gain and the stronger February weeks—as signals of a shift back into growth. They report that CoStar and Tourism Economics are forecasting approximately 0.6 percent RevPAR growth for the U.S. hotel industry in 2026, supported by an expected 1 percent ADR increase and a slight dip in occupancy to around 62.1 percent.

Mega‑events such as the 2026 FIFA World Cup are being cited as contributors to a more supportive backdrop for U.S. travel later in the year. While CoStar and Tourism Economics do not publish precise day‑by‑day March results in advance, the combination of January’s positive RevPAR, strong early‑February performance and the full‑year forecast supports an expectation that March 2026 will see continued low‑single‑digit RevPAR growth, driven mainly by rate with relatively stable occupancy.

Comparing New Orleans and Las Vegas Against the U.S. Average

For the week ending 21 February 2026, the Top 25 summary allows a direct comparison between New Orleans, Las Vegas and the national benchmark.

In New Orleans, occupancy during the peak Mardi Gras days is reaching 87.9 percent, up 6 percentage points versus the previous year’s Mardi Gras period, with Sunday occupancy alone up 9.3 percentage points due to favorable alignment of the holiday and parade schedule. ADR is sitting at 225.77 USD, up 14.4 percent, and RevPAR at 177.42 USD, up 31.4 percent, both the largest increases among the Top 25 markets.

In Las Vegas, occupancy is being recorded at 83.3 percent, up 20.0 percent year over year, the strongest occupancy gain among the Top 25. RevPAR is reaching 152.79 USD, up 28.6 percent, the second‑largest RevPAR increase in the group. ADR growth is positive and implied by the difference between occupancy and RevPAR growth, even if not explicitly itemized in the summary.

Both markets are significantly outperforming the U.S. average for the week, where occupancy is 62.2 percent and RevPAR is up 6.2 percent. New Orleans is leading on rate and RevPAR growth, driven by Mardi Gras, favorable calendar alignment and recovery from a weaker 2025 baseline. Las Vegas is leading on occupancy growth and nearly matching New Orleans in RevPAR growth, driven by compression from WVC, MAGIC Las Vegas and PROJECT Las Vegas layered on top of core leisure demand.

Together, these results illustrate how, within a broadly modest national recovery, concentrated events and holiday timing can generate much more dramatic week‑over‑week and year‑over‑year gains in specific markets.