
REPORT FROM THE U.S. President Obama s proposed defense budget, which would cut $487 billion in military spending during the next decade, has many hoteliers scrambling to bolster demand in military markets.
During the 2011 fiscal year, Fort Benning trained 131,100 soldiers. This fiscal year, which began 1 October 2011 and ends 30 September 2012, the fort will train only 96,000 soldiers, according to a 19 January article in the Ledger-Enquirer .
Most of that demand comes from training, graduation ceremonies and contract jobs drivers that Marian Goodman, CEO of Sky Hospitality, which manages a Microtel Inn Suites near Fort Benning, fears might disappear slowly with the decrease in trainees.
In addition to the exodus of 35,000 troops, Fort Benning Army Lodge, a hotel facility comprising 860 rooms, will open on the base this year. Peter Bowden, president of the Columbus Convention Visitors Bureau, said the facility will not adversely impact surrounding hotels, but area hoteliers are not so sure.
We started seeing the effects last fall, and we hadn t really been informed about the situation car rentals in phoenix until January, she said. Occupancy has dropped off, but the rate is stronger because it s not the same type of business.
With a substantial amount of hotel demand coming car rentals in phoenix from the federal government, average rates at hotels in military markets also could be affected by the loss of military personnel who are booking rooms at per-diem rates.
In Charleston, South Carolina, home to Joint Base Charleston, for example, the per-diem allowance is $136. But prior to 2008, it was just $92. When the rates were lower, military personnel predominantly used midscale hotels. Now that rates have jumped almost 50% since 2007, the demand has shifted to upper-midscale and upscale car rentals in phoenix chains.
car rentals in phoenix They re not going to build an economy hotel in a market where the per diem is at $82, Nielsen said. There's going to be more focus on midscale and upper midscale hotels because they can get a higher rate there.
This is not the first time demand from military personnel has decreased. More than a decade ago, the United States government passed car rentals in phoenix the Defense Base Realignment and Closure Act of 1990 in an effort to re-organize the country s widespread network car rentals in phoenix of military complexes.
The government has conducted five rounds of base closures since implementing the program, the most recent of which led to the closure of Georgia s Fort Gillem and Fort McPherson in September 2011, which left a void of military demand in southern Atlanta.
I m losing my people that used to come every two weeks for training and stuff like that, said Jack Patel, hotel manager at the Rodeway Inn in Forest Park, which is two blocks from Fort Gillem. I ve seen a 30% to 35% decrease in business.
In Sumter, South Carolina, for example, which is home to Shaw Air Force Base, 70% to 80% of the market s demand comes from the military, Nielsen said. If the base shut down, the hotels car rentals in phoenix would have nothing, she said.
Outside of that base-generated demand, Columbus draws demand from companies such as Aflac, which is headquartered in the city, and Boeing, which works with more than 400 businesses and employs nearly 700 workers in the state.
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