1998 is turning out to be a transition year for the lodging industry, ... After seven consecutive years of occupancy increases we are going to see occupancy in all five price points, price segments decrease this year. |
Although the maintenance and general condition of U.S. hotels is the best it has ever been, the industry continues to make improvements and offer further enhancements. |
Commercial demand has increased for special-strategy corporate meetings. Many of these meetings are held in suites, where there is a private area for the meeting and an area for the person running the meeting to stay overnight. |
Everyone is asking for favors, for special consideration, |
Hotel buyers have to be much smarter now than they did a year or two ago. |
Maybe they'll budget for a less expensive dinner, but they'll still go. The negative effect of gasoline prices will be overwhelmed by the strength of the economy and the limited amount of new supply. |
Most travelers seem to be extremely positive about the improved quality of beds and bedding. |
People see value in having these intensive services. If you are flying in and get home late, they want a room service dinner rather than takeout pizza. |
The economics are extremely compelling. It is good for every reason we can think of. |
The forecast is based on the strength of the equity markets. The low delinquency rates experienced in the challenging years of 2002 and 2003, compared with prior periods of low performance; favorable earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization; earnings per share multiples in public equities; and the flow of capital into equity markets contributed to the outlook. |
There are several reasons why these data are not available. In many parts of the world there are simply not sources that compile the data. Real estate, hotel or construction companies are not as accustomed to sharing these data as they are in North America. Finally, gathering the data is very time consuming and challenging: Projects are announced that are never completed, and it would involve interviewing multiple local officials, local, regional and national developers, hotel companies and many others. |
There are some cities where there are still extraordinary discounts, |
We've seen ... substantial occupancy increases, which cause developers, lenders and others to have confidence that positive trends will continue. |
What we've seen is demand growing at three and a half to four and a half percent in some recent years. This year it will only grow about two and a half percent. |
What will happen, daily, is that the general manager or the director of sales or the representative that deals with that account - the embassy here - will get the call: 'Have you had any cancellations?' |