Henry Harteveldt’s keynote address to the OpenTravel Alliance North American Advisory Forum warned an audience of travel industry distribution executives that
Five Year US Hotel Occupancy – Average Rate – RevPAR Comparison
January 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The US hotel industry is recovering but still has considerable territory to cover before regaining the profitability seen in 2007 & 2008. To offer a more complete picture of the US hotel industry as a whole over the past five years, below are full year-over-year comparisons of the three bellwether metrics for the global hotel industry: Occupancy Percentage (Occ), Average Daily Rate (ADR) and Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR.) Additionally, a linear presentation of the same data is provided to more clearly illustrate the trends over time. Finally, the peaks and valleys for each metric are provided. This information clearly depicts the US hotel industry as showing marginal improvement over the depths of the recession in 2009, but far from nearing the heady performance of 2007 & 2008.
What’s Wrong With the US Hotel Industry Recovery?
December 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment
While the US hotel industry recovery is being highlighted by occupancy growth relative to 2009, considerable ground remains to be covered to attain the occupancy, pricing and profitability levels of 2007 & 2008. At the present time, the hotel business is hovering around 2006 levels. The combined effect of the economic downturn, increased share of online travel agencies and the related merchant model, plus a reduction in US government per diem rates will continue to create challenges for industry rate increases moving into 2011.
Changing Global Travel Trends From 2010 to 2020
November 7, 2010 By 1 Comment
“The Travel Gold Rush 2020,” the Oxford Economics research study sponsored by Amadeus recently concluded that Asia would dominate travel spending in the future. Looking beyond the pretty infographic into the underlying statistics, it is important to recognize that Europe and North America will continue to be important components of the global travel puzzle. European travelers will continue to be the largest group, but North Americans will continue to spend the most per visitor.
Travel Industry Site Traffic Rebound – Not a Hotel Slam Dunk
December 15, 2009 By 5 Comments
Compete produced an analysis that indicates traffic to hotel brand and Online Travel Agency hotel specific web pages have increased faster than airline and car rental sectors, indicating a faster path to recovery. Unfortunately, the increase in site traffic has not translated to improved hotel performance as hotels continue to deeply discounting their product to shift market share from competitors. As the hotels fight to support occupancy and average rate, share of leisure travel bookings is shifting away from hotel brand sites to the OTAs.
With the steepest drop in US hotel net operating income on record and non-performing Commercial Backed Mortgage Securities hotel loans hovering close to 15%, the US hotel industry appears to be preparing for a difficult stretch that will continue to provide travelers with excellent hotel values, but test the patience and wallets of hotel owners.
US Hotel Performance – Time for a Baseline Reset?
November 12, 2009 By Leave a Comment
US hotel industry performance has not yet shown signs of recovery. Declines in all key industry metrics – occupancy percentage, average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) continue to decline in 2009 when compared to comparable periods in 2008. Smith Travel Research (STR), PriceWaterhouseCoopers(PWC) and PKF International (PKF) all forecast that ADR and RevPAR will continue to decline in 2010. Reviewing peak period weekly performance statistics, it appears that the US hotel industry needs to prepare for “A New Normal” with lower corporate and group business and value oriented leisure travelers when supply and demand reach equilibrium.
Socialnomics Should Not Be Voodoo Economics
August 27, 2009 By 33 Comments
Socialnomics runs into some fact checking issues with its video heralding the incredible growth of social media. The video inadvertently highlights the key issues most frequently cited by social media critics: First, not referencing its obvious creative source – the Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod and Jeff Brenman “Did you Know” work. Additionally, the difficulty in measuring the impact of social media is amplified by several statistics turning out to be grossly inaccurate or based on unsubstantiated opinions.
US Hotel Industry Recession Enters New Rate Erosion Phase
July 25, 2009 By 8 Comments
The United States hotel industry is experiencing an unprecedented downturn. All hotel industry performance metrics, Average Daily Rate, Occupancy Percentage, and Revenue per Available Room have all trended downward over the past year. At the end of June, based on reporting from Smith Travel Research, national average room rates began to drop at a more rapid pace than occupancy percentages, marking the start of a new phase in the recession. The deeper discounting that has begun is on top of rate cuts that have already return average room rates to 2006 levels.
