More guests staying at high end hotels
2010-05-11
As the economic recession continued to weigh down upon the shoulders of the American consumer, hotels at home and abroad began to have trouble making ends meet. High end hotels in particular fared the worst, as travelers were forced to cut costs wherever they could. This lead to a significant plummet in revenue. Yet things are looking up for luxury hotels, as the New York Times reports that this segment is showing the strongest recovery in the travel industry.
According to a recent study performed by hotel analyst Smith Travel Research, the luxury hotel sector reported the sharpest increases in both occupancy and revenue per available room for any facet of the domestic hotel industry for the week ending on May 1st.
In March, the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain reported a 15.7 percent increase in revenue per available room over the previous year, trouncing the 7.6 percent increase experienced in the previous month.
Hoteliers are optimistic about the turnaround, though cautious about growing too confident, with Simon Cooper, the president of Ritz-Carlton, telling the news provider that "the recovery is stronger in luxury than in any other segment of the hotel business… We're not where we were, but we've certainly come a long way back."