Forecast for hotel sector slips further - Charlotte Business Journal:

Gibson GAM185Q2
The company’s latest forecasg paints a fairly bleak picture for the rest of 2009 predictinfg occupancy rates across the country will bedown 8.4 percentf this summer compared to last and down 8.4 percent by the end of 2009. The Tenn.-based company predicts the average dailyt room rate will bedown 10.4 percenyt this summer and 9.7 percent by the end of 2009. Revenur per available room is expected to bedown 18.7 percentf this summer and 17.1 percent by the end of 2009. Accordiny to the firm, a rebound of group travel will be key tothe industry’s recovery.
Group business will have to return to aboutg 90 to 95 percent of its levels priort tothe downturn, whicb will in turn generate transient demand, beforre hotels once again gain any pricing leverage. “On an inflation-adjusted basis, it’s probably going to be longe r than six years before the rate s get back to2007 levels,” said Mark president of Smith Travel Last week Arizona released its tourism numbers from 2008, showing significant weakness from the year While the average dail y rate of a room in Arizon a last year was $107.76, a bit higherd than the national ADR of $106.
50, touris m figures released for the firsg quarter — typically the high tourist seasohn — show the hospitality industry is still challenged by the Statewide, ADR was down 13.8 from $132.72 in first-quartefr 2008 to $114.47 in first-quarter 2009. In metro Phoenix, ADR sank 16 from $160.87 in first-quarter 2008 to $135.08 in first-quarterf 2009. Because metro Phoenix boast s manyluxurious upper-tier resorts, daily rates in the region are somewhart higher than statewide figures. For more on the state’se tourism sector, .