Small changes in average daily rate of $3 to $5 per night equate to a 5% to 8% rate drop for these e

Recent Comments Charles Clarke cheap hotels in rome near termini on St. Regis San Francisco: the problem is me Eric Pease on Sea otters and sea lions on a Monterey Bay February summery day Helen C on St. Regis San Francisco: the problem is me Ric Garrido on Sea otters and sea lions on a Monterey Bay February summery day Dan on Sea otters and sea lions on a Monterey Bay February summery day
Tables in this article show the year over year changes in average room rates and occupancy for the various brands in five major hotel chains including Choice Hotels International, InterContinental Hotels Group, cheap hotels in rome near termini Marriott Hotels, Starwood Hotels, and Wyndham Hotels Group. These five chains represent over 40 hotel brands in the USA and around the world. I was unable to locate comparable cheap hotels in rome near termini data on the web for Hilton cheap hotels in rome near termini Hotels or Hyatt Hotels.
Financial reports data from the first quarter of 2009 was used to show the average daily room rate changes and occupancy declines from 2008 to 2009. In the next couple of weeks the financial reports for April through June will be released by the major hotel corporations. Expect the data to show even more dramatic declines cheap hotels in rome near termini in rates and occupancy. After all, this recession is a whopper.
A discussion on FlyerTalk got me thinking about what the impact of the global recession cheap hotels in rome near termini across hotel market cheap hotels in rome near termini segments cheap hotels in rome near termini and different hotel chains. And are we truly travelers in a time of global recession for the hotel industry?
Smith Travel Research is the kind of company that has hotel rate and occupancy data compiled for a numbers geek like me. I like to periodically check their reports. Unfortunately, I did not see as many reports available online for free viewing as I remember finding last year. They are in the business of making money after all.
In the next couple of weeks the major hotel chains will release 2009 Second Quarter financial data. The great thing about quarterly financial reports is public access to the hotel chain's statistics for number of hotels, average room rates, and average occupancy.
I have never worked in the field of hospitality and certainly never been in management so I have limited interest in hotel chains financial data. My interest is hotel properties, room rates, and occupancy rates that has direct relevance to the frequent guest.
Luxury Collection/St. Regis Occupancy Rates seem skewed to me because the decline in hotel occupancy is shown based on total rooms and not as a percentage decline in occupancy cheap hotels in rome near termini from the previous year.
(45.2-39.6) / 45.2 = 12.4% occupancy decline in occupied rooms from 2008 to 2009 at Travelodge Hotels around the country. This occupancy decline cheap hotels in rome near termini is in the face of a 16% decline in average room rates.
Small changes cheap hotels in rome near termini in average daily rate of $3 to $5 per night equate to a 5% to 8% rate drop for these economy and midscale chains in Wyndham Hotels Group. These year over year rate declines are on par with rate declines in Marriott and IHG chains. Starwood with its focus on upper upscale hotel market segment the room rate declines have been proportionately higher across the hotel chain.
Wyndham Hotels and Resorts actually saw an average daily rate increase from March 2008 to March 2009 and bucked the trend for the other hotel chains. Starwood, Marriott, and IHG all had the greatest percentage average room rate decline in its highest market segment cheap hotels in rome near termini brands. The Starwood Hotels brands of St. Regis/Luxury Collection (down 12% in US and over 25% internationally), W Hotels (about 19% globally), and Le Meridien (about 20% globally) showed double digit declines for average room rate. Marriott Hotels was down about 9% while its Ritz-Carlton luxury brand dropped room rates an average 10%. IHG held its rate average fairly well over the year compared to Starwood and Marriott.
cheap hotels in rome near termini Hotel Room Occupancy dropped globally in 2009. There are no upsides to the occupancy numbers for hotels. From the USA and Americas and other regions of Europe, Africa/Middle East, and Asia/Pacific the hotel guest numbers have dropped from 5% to 10% in all areas across all hotel brands. Ritz-Carlton in the Americas suffered a 13% drop in occupancy over the year.
The major hotel chains went all out trying to stimulate loyalty cheap hotels in rome near termini promotion activity over the past few months. Rates continued to drop according to Smith Travel Research cheap hotels in rome near termini weekly data and occupancy also declined. The Q2 data should continue to paint a picture of lower rates for consumers. Unfortunately, my observation cheap hotels in rome near termini has been the lower revenue going into hotels has had the impact cheap hotels in rome near termini of fewer hotel staff working to handle customer needs.
Choice Hotels bucks the prevalent trend of declining room rates from March 2008 to March 2009 with Average Daily Rate year-over-year increases for five of the nine brands with data. These brands must be managed by Cornell cheap hotels in rome near termini CHR grads. cheap hotels in rome near termini All brands still had occupancy declines.
What I find interesting about Choice Hotels is the greatest average daily rate increases were in the extended stay brands of MainStay Suites and Suburban. These two brands also had the greatest decrease in occupancy.
My sentiment is the hotel industry was skipping and laughing all the way to the bank when room rates were increasing by double-digit amounts in some locations from 2003 to 2007; well above the historical average room rate increase of the past few decades.
Rates are dropping in 2009, but don't cry to me about Argentina. I paid $165 a night for the Sheraton Libertador, Buenos Aires in 2007 and that was one of the cheapest options I found for the major hotel chains. And that was $100 per night cheaper than the average rate at the chain hotels in Washington, cheap hotels in rome near termini D.C. where I ended up using Priceline to get a room for just over $100 before flying to Buenos Aires. Moscow had average rates over $400 per night two years ago. Paris and New York had astronomical hotel rates in 2008.
All you hoteliers cheap hotels in rome near termini had me worried in 2007 that the leisure traveler would be completely cheap hotels in rome near termini priced out of the upscale hotel market. Well, now the economy has forced hotels to bring prices back to earth in 2009.
My gut feeling, based on my labor economics background,  is hotels will need to let prices fall a bit more in 2009 and 2010. Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research may be barking "Steady as You Go" to hold rates higher in spite of the global economic recession, however, as the voice of the reasoned and seasoned traveler, I have to shout back "Enough is enough." The new economic mantra has to become sustainable rates for a traveling public cheap hotels in rome near termini .
Are there really enough people with sufficient spare capital to pay $400 per night for a W Hotel or InterContinental Hotel stay? If so, then hotel chains need to start building cheap hotels in rome near termini some multi-thousand capsule bedrooms at 100 square feet for the masses who want to visit Paris, New York, or Miami during their lifetime.
Did you really think 10+ percent rate increases were sustainable? How many people make 10% raises per year?   Hotels quickly priced cheap hotels in rome near termini out a large portion of the traveling population in just a couple of years.
The data I have compiled is a reality check. There are still some high average daily rates in several market segments that I do not see as sustainable in the long run for travelers. Business has cut back significantly leading to a drop in the upper high-end rates typically commanded during conferences and peak holiday seasons. I still think there is room on the low-end of upscale hotels for reducing rates more for leisure travelers.
The Economy Hotel market segment is where I predict the real damage will be felt this year and into 2010.    Economy hotel prices are already low in most market segments, yet the occupancy rate is still plummeting despite average rates under $50 per night in many locations.