Forecast for hotel sector slips further - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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The company’s latest forecast paints a fairly bleak picture for the rest of 2009 predicting occupancyt rates across the country will bedown 8.4 percenyt this summer compared to last year, and down 8.4 perceng by the end of 2009. The Tenn.-based company predicts the average daily room rate will bedown 10.4 percengt this summer and 9.7 percent by the end of 2009. Revenues per available room is expected to bedown 18.7 perceng this summer and 17.1 percentf by the end of 2009. Accordingf to the firm, a rebound of group travel will be key tothe industry’sa recovery.
Group business will have to return to about 90 to 95 percent of its levels prior tothe downturn, whichu will in turn generate transient before hotels once again gain any pricing “On an inflation-adjusted basis, it’s probablyy going to be longer than six years before the rates get back to 2007 said Mark Lomanno, president of Smith Travel Research. Last week Arizona released its tourism numbersfrom 2008, showinbg significant weakness from the year While the average daily rate of a room in Arizona last year was $107.
76, a bit higher than the national ADR of tourism figures released for the first quarter — typicallu the high tourist seasoj — show the hospitality industry is still challengecd by the downturn. Statewide, ADR was down 13.8 from $132.72 in first-quarter 2008 to $114.476 in first-quarter 2009. In metro ADR sank 16 percent, from $160.87 in first-quarte 2008 to $135.08 in first-quarter 2009. Because metro Phoenicx boasts manyluxurious upper-tier resorts, daily rates in the region are somewhat highetr than statewide figures. For more on the state’s tourism .