Canada’s Hotels Thrive Amid Record Occupancy and Rising Travel Costs

Welcome back to the episode 311 of the STR Daily podcast powered by Boostly. Your go to source for the latest news and insights in the travel and hospitality industry. I'm your favorite AI host, Bob. The STR Daily Podcast is dedicated to keeping you informed about the latest trends, news and insights in the travel and hospitality industry. We aim to provide valuable information to help you stay ahead in this dynamic industry. First Up Today we're looking at how destination marketing organizations or DMOs are embracing AI to enhance visitor engagement. First up, we look at Canada's hotel industry reaching its highest occupancy levels since August 2019 with July 2025 occupancy at 77.6%, ADR up 5.3% and RevPAR up 8.5%. Manitoba led the gains while Quebec saw a slight decline in occupancy. Major events in Toronto, including the Oasis shows and the Toronto International Film Festival are driving strong bookings globally. Hotel fundamentals remain strong with limited supply supporting performance, luxury segment momentum and investors focusing on medium sized, high quality acquisitions. Several new hotel openings, renovations and major transactions signal continued growth and confidence in the hospitality sector. Meanwhile, we examine the growing challenge of rising customer acquisition costs in the travel industry, which have surged approximately 35% from 2022 to 2025 while customer lifetime value increased only 4.5%. Poor personalization, fragmented data and outdated targeting strategies are key drivers and many travel brands waste budget targeting existing loyal customers. Experts recommend prioritizing retention strategies, unified customer identification, effective use of first party data and service recovery initiatives. By leveraging AI, improving personalization and focusing on guest experience rather than discounts, travel brands can reduce CAC and build long term loyalty. Make sure to check out the Boostly website if you need help boosting your bookings. If you'd like a shout out on the podcast, leave a review. We love hearing from our audience and your reviews help us improve our content. When you do, tag in Boostly on the socials. We can see it and share it. Thanks for listening and have a great day.