U.S. lodging industry will achieve a new record number of occupied rooms per night of 3.277 million this summer, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. The previous record of…
U.S. lodging industry will achieve a new record number of occupied rooms per night of 3.277 million this summer, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. The previous record of 3.136 million occupied rooms per night was achieved in 2005.
Occupancy will not exceed the 72.1 percent achieved in 2000 (based on Smith Travel Research data), but the forecast of 71.5 percent will be highest in the five years since 2000. Since 2000, U.S. hotel supply has increased by 7.7 percent.
Occupancy levels for the Fourth of July five-day weekend will be 72.8 percent and for the three-day Labor Day weekend will be 69.1 percent, both the highest since 2000, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers` forecast.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the effect of gasoline prices, which are $0.75 above last year`s levels, will reduce occupied rooms per night by about 0.5 percent from forecast projections if the gasoline prices had remained at last year`s levels.
Industry performance continues to be impressive with record demand levels, reflecting increases in business, group and leisure, both domestic and international segments. Urban, suburban, resort, airport and hotels at all price levels are experiencing positive trends, explains Bjorn Hanson, Ph.D., a principal in PricewaterhouseCoopers` Hospitality and Leisure practice.
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