Another great article from HotelNewsNow.com as part of their 2012 Year in Review.  From the article:

In a year marked by fiscal and political uncertainties, with black swans threatening to land throughout the world, the U.S. hotel industry quietly continued to churn along with strong performance.

Persisting negative headlines seem to corroborate those instincts, but Smith said that simply hasn’t been the case.

“Unexpected strength has kind of been the theme lately,” he said.

HotelNewsNow.com says that several prominent themes emerged during 2012 including:

Record Demand – The U.S. hotel industry set a record during July for the most roomnights ever sold in a single month with 105,954,122. The summer months of June and August were strong as well, both posting more than 100 million roomnights sold.

Supply Slowly Creeping – The number of hotel rooms under construction was up approximately 24% to 67,468 as of November, according to STR data.  However, the total active pipeline, which also includes projects in the final planning and planning stages of development, was down 3.6% to 299,201 rooms.

Rates Returning to Peak – November year to date, ADR was up 4.2% to $106.23. And for the first time since 2008, not a single month posted an ADR of less than $100. What’s more, there were two months during the past 12 (July and November) in which monthly ADR was actually higher than their 2008 equivalents.

Group’s Late Year Surge – Hoteliers sold 11.1 million group roomnights during the month (October), which was well above the “golden year” of 2007, she said.

We couldn’t agree more.  Almost every hotel we have the pleasure of serving has been reporting terrific occupancy rates.  Many say their room rates are slowly climbing.  With very little new supply coming online this year, many hotels are going to experience record-setting 2013’s.

Source:  HotelNewsNow.com Article