© 2016 STR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. illustrations: annamarie hudson

Source: AAA, STR

5.9%

90.7%3.4%

Feasting in luxury

96%Orlando

97.3%Sydney

94.2%New Orleans

97.7%Dubai

2015 New Year’s Eve occupancy

88.8%luxury occupancyon New Year’s Eve

56.6%luxury occupancy on Christmas Day

60.3%average occupancyon New Year’s Eve

36.3%average occupancyon Christmas Day

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Travelers like to get an early start on New Year’s Eve, with Sydney (10 hours ahead of GMT) at 97.3% occupancy in 2015. Other popular party cities thrived on the holiday, as well, with Dubai at 97.7%, Orlando at 96% and New Orleans at 94.2%. The partying keeps going in New Orleans, which had 93.2% occupancy on New Year’s Day.

While the vast majority (90.7%) of Americans are expected to travel by car for the holidays, AAA forecasts more than 6 million (5.9%) will travel by airplane. That’s a 2.5% increase in air travel from last year, and marks the fifth-consecutive year of rising air travel. Meanwhile, travel by boat, train, bus or other means is expected to decline slightly to 3.5 million (3.4%).

Among the STR chain scales, luxury hotels fare the best on New Year’s Eve: occupancy reached 88.8% on 31 December 2015, along with ADR climbing to a whopping $490.26 and RevPAR to $435.19. Luxury hotels also led the way on Christmas Day 2015 (56.6% occupancy), but had close competition from upscale hotels, which had 51.6% occupancy.

More Americans (103 million) are expected to travel for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays than any other year on record, AAA reports in its annual forecast. Compared to last year, that’s 1.5 million (or 1.5%) more holiday travelers, despite one fewer travel day (Friday, 23 December, to Monday, 2 January).

Hoteliers in the U.S. historically get a much bigger gift on New Year’s than Christmas, with average occupancy of 60.3% on New Year’s Eve versus 36.3% on Christmas Day. In 2015, higher rates ($154.01 versus $115.35) translated to a New Year’s revenue premium, with RevPAR at $102.43 compared to $54.14.

1.5%increase in holiday travelers over 2015

Here’s a look at some key figures for travel and hotel performance around the New Year’s and Christmas holidays.