According to a panel at the recent American Hotel & Lodging Association U.S. Lodging Industry Summit, here are some of the latest hospitality trends:
-More people are researching and booking through the Internet—from $1.27 billion in 2003 to $1.66 billion in 2005, a 30 percent increase.
-Last year’s 1.6 percent average daily rooms-sold rate will increase to 4.5 percent this year.
-Occupancy will increase from 59.2 percent in 2003 to 60.8 percent in 2004; average daily rates also will go from $83.12 (0.1 percent) in 2003 to $85.11 (2.4 percent) in 2004. Demand also will be heading upward.
-Generation Xers are starting to catch up to Baby Boomers in their travel-spending habits.
-All the new construction and re-flagging leading hotel companies have been doing will add up to more than half of the total lodging available this year: a total of 165,138 properties.
-Security concerns are taking a back seat to the economy when it comes to reasons why travel is difficult for them.
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