# Sector scorecards: benchmarking against STR, ADR and Cost per Available Seat
A hotel general manager opens her weekly report and sees one number: MPI 92. No context, no explanation. In three seconds she needs to know if that is a crisis or a non-event. This lesson gives you that fluency.
A hotel that made $2 million in room revenue last month tells you nothing on its own. Was that good? Compared to what?
The hospitality industry solves this with comp sets (competitive sets): a handpicked group of similar properties (same market, similar chain scale, similar price point) that a hotel measures itself against. The dominant data provider for this in the US and increasingly in Europe is STR (a CoStar Group company, formerly Smith Travel Research). Most hotel finance teams see an STR report weekly or monthly.
STR reports three headline metrics for a hotel versus its comp set, each expressed as an index against 100:
Index of 100 means you are performing exactly at your comp set's level. Above 100 means you are outperforming. Below 100 means you are losing share.
Before indexing, know the three metrics everyone in hotel finance quotes constantly:
Occupancy = Rooms sold ÷ Rooms available. A hotel with 150 rooms that sells 120 on a given night has 80% occupancy.
ADR (Average Daily Rate) = Room revenue ÷ Rooms sold (not rooms available). If that 120-room-night total generated $18,000 in room revenue, ADR = $18,000 ÷ 120 = $150.
RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) = Room revenue ÷ Rooms available, or equivalently Occupancy × ADR. Using the same numbers: $18,000 ÷ 150 = $120. Check: 0.80 × $150 = $120. Same answer, two paths.
RevPAR is the single most quoted top-line health metric in hotel finance because it captures both pricing and volume in one number. A hotel can raise ADR but lose so much occupancy that RevPAR falls, a common trap.
US benchmark (estimate, full year 2024, per STR/CoStar data widely reported industry-wide): US hotel RevPAR was roughly $101, ADR around $159, occupancy near 63%. European benchmark (estimate, 2024): European RevPAR was reported around €99 to €100 by STR, with occupancy generally running a few points higher than the US in leading markets like London and Paris, reflecting Europe's shorter, denser high season and heavier leisure mix. Treat both as directional, not exact, since STR revises figures and definitions (currency, sample, month) shift comparisons.
Say your comp set (the average of four nearby competitor hotels) posts these figures for the month:
Your hotel posts:
Now calculate the indices:
MPI = (Your occupancy ÷ Comp set occupancy) × 100 = (64.4 ÷ 70) × 100 = 92
ARI = (Your ADR ÷ Comp set ADR) × 100 = (154 ÷ 140) × 100 = 110
RGI = (Your RevPAR ÷ Comp set RevPAR) × 100 = (99.2 ÷ 98) × 100 = 101
Read this like a finance analyst: your hotel is losing occupancy share (MPI 92, meaning you are filling fewer rooms relative to competitors) but commanding a rate premium (ARI 110). The net effect on RevPAR is still slightly positive (RGI 101). This is a classic "rate over volume" positioningpositioningThe mental space you want your brand to occupy in your target customer's mind relative to alternatives.Voir la définition complète →, common for renovated properties or those chasing a premium brand repositioning.
If RGI had come in below 100 despite the rate premium, that would flag a real problem: you are pricing yourself out of demand without recovering it in rate, a common signal of a stale product or an overly aggressive revenue manager.
Airlines have their own version of this logic. The core cost metric is CASM (Cost per Available Seat Mile, US) or CASK (Cost per Available Seat Kilometer, Europe and most of the world outside the US).
CASM/CASK = Total operating costs ÷ Available Seat Miles (or Kilometers)
Available Seat Miles (ASM) = Number of seats flown × Miles flown. It measures capacity, not demand.
Worked example: an airline operates a flight with 180 seats over 1,000 miles. ASM = 180,000. If total operating cost for that flight is $27,000, CASM = $27,000 ÷ 180,000 = 15 cents per ASM.
On the revenue side, the mirror metric is RASM (Revenue per Available Seat Mile) or PRASM for passenger revenue specifically. The gap between RASM and CASM is effectively the airline's operating margin per unit of capacity.
US benchmark (estimate, recent years per major US carrier disclosures): mainline CASM excluding fuel typically runs in the 8 to 11 cents range depending on carrier and stage length; full CASM including fuel often lands near 13 to 17 cents. Low-cost carriers like Southwest or Ryanair (Europe) target structurally lower CASM/CASK through higher aircraft utilization, denser seating, and single fleet types, often several cents lower than full-service network carriers. Always check whether a quoted figure is "CASM ex-fuel" since fuel volatility can swing headline CASM significantly year to year.
A quick sanity check formula worth memorizing:
Operating margin per ASM ≈ RASM − CASMIf RASM = 16 cents and CASM = 14 cents, the airline earns roughly 2 cents of operating margin per available seat mile flown, before accounting for non-operating items.
Vérification des acquis
1. A hotel's MPI is 92. What does this indicate?
2. Why do hotel finance teams rely on comp set indices (MPI, ARI, RGI) rather than just reporting raw occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR figures?
3. A hotel has RevPAR of $120. Its comp set's RevPAR is $100. Which statement is most accurate?
4. Select ALL correct answers about the relationship between Occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR.
Sélectionnez toutes les réponses correctes.
5. Select ALL correct answers about STR comp sets and indices.
Sélectionnez toutes les réponses correctes.
STR's own glossary and sample reports are the industry standard reference; explore STR's methodology overview at str.com for how comp sets are built and indices are calculated. For airline cost metrics, the IATA Economics reports publish periodic industry-wide CASM and yield benchmarks, useful for sanity-checking any single carrier's disclosed numbers against the broader market.
🎬 [VIDEO: "Hotel Revenue Management Metrics Explained (RevPAR, ADR, Occupancy)" - youtube.com - search this title on YouTube for a visual, worked walkthrough of how hotel revenue managers use these metrics day to day]
Do not compare raw RevPAR or CASM figures across the Atlantic without adjusting for currency and definitional differences. STR reports European figures often in euros or local currency before conversion; a strong or weak dollar can make US properties look artificially better or worse against European peers in a given quarter. Similarly, European "all-inclusive" VAT-inclusive pricing conventions can inflate headline ADR compared to US net-of-tax quoting. Always check the footnote on tax and currency treatment before benchmarking across regions.