Can’t wait till 2011

No, really — some hotel owners won’t make it to 2011 for the true market upswing predicted by the folks at Hendersonville-based Smith Travel Research. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“There’s a constant drain on the industry to continue to support marginal properties,” Smith said. “Properties that go bankrupt yet stay open and obsolete properties that should be demolished yet stay open are all drains on good operators of properties. Some way to close those properties would be a reward to all of the operators who perform well year after year.”

A little more patience needed for hotel revival

The latest version of Smith Travel Research’s index of leading indicators shows the industry has slowed since the summer. The upshot: While the index is generally about five months ahead of the industry as a whole, “it appears that in our current cycle the lead time might be extended.”

Nashville’s hotel market still among nation’s strongest

The latest round of statistics from Smith Travel Research shows Nashville’s hotels saw their average daily rate fall 8 percent in the week from Sept. 13-19. That was the fourth-best number in the country and in line with numbers from earlier this year.

Don’t look for hotel recovery soon

Industry players surveyed at a recent Smith Travel Research conference don’t expect their pricing power to return for at least another year.

Thirty-three percent of the respondents believe RevPAR will not start to recover until 2011 or beyond, 23.9 percent believe it will start to recover during third-quarter 2010, and 21.6 percent believe it will start to recover during fourth-quarter 2010.

Nashville hotels among nation’s most resilient

Smith Travel Research says Nashville’s average daily hotel room rates fell just 4.9 percent in the first half of this year, trailing only Washington, D.C. on that front.

SEE ALSO: Bit by bit, hotels claw their way back

Bit by bit, hotels claw their way back

But they still have no pricing power, say the folks at Smith Travel Research.

“Even though June demand was still down considerably from last year, the level of decline was the best so far in 2009. That trend has continued through the first half of July, and we’re hopeful that it will continue for the remainder of the summer. However, the percentage declines in average daily room rates continue to be at all time lows.”

CMA Fest delivers hotels pricing power

Nashville’s hotel market was the nation’s strongest last week, helped by the impact of the CMA Festival, which hit town a week later than in 2008. Occupancy rates rose almost 6 percent while revenue per available room jumped more than 11 percent from a year ago.

Local hotels show small sign of pricing power

It’s all relative these days, but Smith Travel Research says the Nashville area is the only major market in the country seeing revenue-per-room drops of less than 10 percent. In the Big Apple, that number is down by 40 percent.

Hotel market set for Q4 rebound

So say the pros at Smith Travel Research in Hendersonville, who are forecasting a 10 percent drop in revenue per room this year, but see “measurable gains in the fourth quarter.”

Hotel research firm to host local conference

Hendersonville-based Smith Travel Research will bring to town hotel execs from across this August for the first Hotel Data Conference. Maybe by then, some of these numbers will have begun improving.

From the Department of Numbers Sure to Fall Further

Hendersonville-based Smith Travel Research and its survey partners say the total numbers of hotel rooms in development is down just 7 percent from a year ago. Think the other numbers will soon look like the upper-upscale segment’s off-a-cliff drop?

Hold on for seven more months

Hendersonville-based Smith Travel Research says the U.S. hotel market will begin to rebound in the second half of 2009.

“The deteriorating economic conditions have become so pervasive that it is affecting all areas of travel-nearly all of which have an impact on hotels,” said Mark Lomanno, president of STR. “Having said that, we expect the worst to be over in the second quarter of 2009.”