Hotels along the oil-spill wary Gulf of Mexico coast have so far escaped damage to occupancy rates, according to data from STR. Most recent figures through the week ending 22 May show hotels have maintained an occupancy rate above 2009 levels. Occupancy was 60.8 percent for the week ending 22 May 2010. Occupancy was 54.9 percent for the same week last year.
*The Gulf Coast region comprises hotels in Texas, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida that are located within 10 miles of the coast. The total number of hotels is 1,736 properties with 156,394 guestrooms. This region spans Brownsville, Texas, to Key West, Florida.
Pegasus Solutions reported a 34.3-percent global year-on-year increase in April 2010 revenue for bookings made through the Global Distribution Systems. Sourcing data from GDS and alternative distribution system (ADS) transactions, Pegasus further evidences a business travel recovery, citing GDS growth in both booking volumes (+27.4 percent) and average daily rate (+5.5 percent) year-on-year.
Combined, GDS and ADS bookings for the month were up 11.1 percent year to date, with future bookings made through September showing double-digit growth. This ongoing rise in booking volumes for both channels was again accompanied by a 30-percent jump in ADS availability requests and look-to-book ratios.
The U.S. Hotel Industry Leading Indicator (HIL) rose in April, the third consecutive month it showed an increase, according to e-forecasting.com in conjunction with STR. HIL went up 0.3 percent in April, after edging up 0.2 percent in March. HIL, a monthly leading indicator for the U.S. hotel industry, is a composite leading indicator that, on average, leads the industry’s business activity four to five months in advance. The latest increase brought the index to a reading of 111.9. The index is set to equal 100 in 2000.
• Read “HIL continues to grow, but slower pace in April.”
Several New Orleans hotels filed a class action suit in federal court this week against BP, saying that damage to the Louisiana seafood industry caused by the oil spill will tarnish New Orleans’ appeal as a tourism destination, according to the Times-Picayune.
Named plaintiffs include the Bourbon Orleans, Astor Crowne Plaza, Marriott Convention Center, Wyndham Riverfront, St. Louis, St. Ann Marie Antoinette and the Dauphine Orleans hotels, most of which are owned by investor groups led by Joe Jaeger, president of Mechanical Construction Company.
Hotels.com released a “Falling Stars” Top 10 table that reports the cities and hotel rooms around the world that have experienced the biggest nightly rate drops during the past 12 months, according to the Hotels.com Hotels Price Index.
The average cost of a 3-star hotel room in Moscow fell by 39 percent, per night. Other cut-price mid-range rooms were in Cancun, where prices for 3-star rooms were down by a quarter, and Dubai, where 3-star rooms were reduced by 18 percent. Boston's budget rooms dropped by more than a third (35 percent) over the last year. Similarly, budget rooms in Singapore (34 percent) and Hong Kong (31 percent) also became a lot more affordable.
Compiled by Stacey Higgins.
