This 16th annual Lodging Tax Study presents data on city, state, and special district lodging and sales taxes imposed on lodging sales. We provide historical data on tax rates and collection and distribution of revenue from lodging taxes levied in all 50 States and the 150 largest US cities. Our analysis of 25 major U.S. hotel markets shows more markets declining than growing in 2025. Through August 2026, RevPAR rose in all but one market, signaling broad-based improvement in hotel performance.

The tone of this year’s Lodging Conference was measured optimism, as strong 2026 RevPAR growth and limited new supply support the industry outlook. However, rising operating costs, expensive debt, loan maturities, and geopolitical risks continue to pressure profitability. Owners are increasingly focused on AI adoption, active asset management, brand economics, and converting revenue increases into asset value.

Downtown Dallas hotels are navigating convention-center disruption, corporate relocations, and sports venue shifts, with FIFA boosting 2026 rates. While occupancy may remain soft until the revamped convention center reopens in 2030, factors such as Uptown development, elevated hotel/residence projects, airport investments, and major projects support a strong longer-term outlook.

Houston is no stranger to major sporting events, having hosted Super Bowls, Final Fours, and College Football Playoff games. FIFA 2026 added another chapter, drawing an estimated 500,000 out-of-town visitors to Houston, according to the Harris County–Houston Sports Authority. While Houston hotels did not see a broad occupancy surge, they found meaningful pricing power around the matches.

The St. Louis lodging market struggled to find its footing in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic but appeared to turn a corner in 2025 and continued to strengthen this year. Numerous recent and ongoing developments and initiatives support a positive outlook for market hotels.

This summer has been strong for the U.S. hotel sector, with weekly RevPAR gains averaging near 8.0% in June and early July, cooling slightly into 6.0% to 7.0% in August. Our RevPAR growth forecast reflects 4.5% for 2026 given the expectation that recent growth, partly fueled by World Cup matches and heightened vacation travel, will wane somewhat in the final months of the year.

Boise's hospitality market has traditionally been supported by government, education, and healthcare demand. In recent years, however, strong population growth and significant technology sector expansion have emerged as key drivers of economic activity, fueling new hotel development and supporting strong lodging performance throughout the market.

To measure the impact of the FIFA World Cup in eleven U.S. cities, we compare occupancy rates, ADR, RevPAR, and rooms revenue during the weeks of World Cup matches to the same weeks in 2025, as adjusted for the expected change in these variables in the absence of the FIFA events. We demonstrate a wide variance in the impact in host cities and discuss the underlying factors that influence these differences.

Our Serviced Apartment Survey invited operators and chartered surveyors to share their views on the cost challenges of Serviced Apartments compared to typical hotels in 2026 and beyond.

Each year, HVS researches and compiles development costs from our database of actual hotel construction budgets. This source provides the basis for our illustrated total development costs per room and per product type.