New York Times Reports on Latest Hotel Industry Statistics and the Numbers Are Sobering

In his New York Times blog of Dec. 23, Joe Sharkey reports on the latest numbers from lodging industry statisticians Smith Travel Research (STR). Those figures showed a 12.9 percent industry-wide decrease in revenue per available room (RevPAR, the standard industry measurement.)

But the bad news in the luxury sector was a precipitous drop of 20.7 percent in November. A notch below luxury – at STR’s “upper upscale” level – the numbers were better at 13.7 percent while for “upscale” it was 12.8 percent.
      

Looking at the impact of these numbers Sharkey offered the following:
 

* Luxury hotels are loath to be seen discounting and will be offering promotions – many of the three-nights-for-the-price-of-two variety – rate cuts that don’t show up on the nightly rate cards.
* It’s only a matter of time before rates are forced lower by “trading down” of business travelers to hotels at lower price levels; or those same business travelers may simply not show up.
   
On the brighter side, Sharkey quotes STR president Mark Lomanno to the affect that, “After a bumpy first half of 2009, the hotel industry will begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel as the second half of the year unfolds.”       
                                                                                                                              

http://joesharkeyat.blogspot.com/2008/12/severe-downtown-in-hotel-industry.html