San Antonio Business Journal: SA hotels get big bounce ahead of NBA Finals

The San Antonio Business Journal reported on San Antonio’s hospitality sector performance in First Quarter 2026 while the city’s Spurs NBA franchise is in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014. Naturally, journalist Scott Bailey reached out to Source Strategies for insight into how the city’s vital hospitality industry performed. The article, SA hotels get big bounce ahead of NBA Finals, looks at San Antonio’s downtown and SeaWorld submarkets and looks ahead to the Finals impact.

The story begins with Source Strategies data on the San Antonio metro’s First Quarter 2026 performance:

After a post-pandemic slowdown in demand, San Antonio’s lodging industry has begun to see some light at the end of its hotel corridors.

Metro San Antonio hotels generated $367.2 million in revenue during the first quarter of 2026, according to new data obtained from Source Strategies. That’s a roughly 3% improvement for an industry that suffered a nearly 7% revenue drop in 2025, with occupancy falling below 57%.

The story begins with Source Strategies data on the San Antonio metro’s First Quarter 2026 performance:

“It was definitely a positive quarter for San Antonio after six straight quarters of demand contraction,” Source Strategies’ Paul Vaughn told me. “It’s good to see the revenue growth.”

There were modest gains in multiple areas, including the volume of room nights sold and the average daily rate (ADR) hotel operators commanded in the first three months of 2026. The ADR — just under $143 per night — grew by 2.2% year over year.

While overall occupancy was essentially flat at 57.4% compared to Q1 2025, revenue per available room at San Antonio hotels increased 2% to just over $82.

“Downtown had the strongest occupancy and REVPAR gains,” Vaughn said.

The SeaWorld area in Far West San Antonio saw important gains. That submarket saw its room nights sold increase by more than 10%.

“Several new hotels opened in the Seaworld/Lackland submarket in the last year plus bringing in strong revenues,” Vaughn said.

Then the article pivots to what was on all San Antonians’ minds: the Spurs in the NBA Finals!

The San Antonio Spurs will host a minimum of two and as many as four NBA Finals home games. That event is expected to generate heightened demand for hotel rooms — especially downtown.

“We expect downtown San Antonio hotels to have a great two weeks with the NBA Finals,” Vaughn said.

Read the full article, SA hotels get big bounce ahead of NBA Finals, on the San Antonio Business Journal website.