Demand for hotel rooms moderated in 2023 nearer to pre-pandemic levels, but hotel industry professionals expect that to grow this year, according to a survey by STR.

Hotel room demand, calculated by the number of room nights sold, has grown since the peaks of the pandemic in 2020. Leisure travelers came back much quicker than business or group travelers, but as leisure demand levels off, the other two segments continue to rebound.

In the Hospitality Industry Sentiment (HIS) Survey, a quarterly study assessing the experiences and expectations of hotel and travel professionals around the globe by CoStar hospitality analytics firm STR, most respondents said they still expect growth in both business transient and group demand.

However, the percentage of respondents that expect either “strong improvement” or “some improvement” in leisure, business and group demand is trending slowly downward.