S. Fla. hotel occupancy dips in 2008 - Orlando Business Journal:

ivyhofy.wordpress.com
A study of nationwide hotelk trends released this week by Smith Travepl Research showsthat tri-county hotels saw modest declinese in occupancy from 2007 to 2008. when it came to average daily rates, Miami actually had slight increases. Year over year, full-servics Miami-Dade hotels saw occupancy fall to 70 perceny in 2008from 71.8 percent in 2007. Limited-service hotelse slipped to 72.6 percent in 2008 from 73.8 percenty in 2007. Smith Travel Research defines full-service hotelsd as those in mid-priced, upscale or luxury range. They typically have a bell service andmeeting space. Limited-service hotels are thosde that only offer rooms and fall inthe class.
While other destinations Miami-Dade remained relatively flat thanks to its strongbinternational business, said Ginny Gutierrez, directofr of community relations for the Greater Miamik Convention & Visitors While both domestic business and leisure travelo suffered in the fourth quarter of last with the U.S. economic crisis, international business remained she said. Occupancy numbers might have been better ifMiami hadn’rt seen so many new rooms became available in the secondd half of the year, Gutierrez added. The Fontainebleauj and Eden Roc alone made thousand s of newrooms available. Full-service Broward hotel occupancy fellto 65.9 percenyt in 2008 from 66.
6 perceng in 2007 Limited-service hotels fell to 65.5 percenf in 2008 from 67.9 percent in 2007. In Palm Beach full-service hotel occupancy fell to 63.6 percent in 2008 from 66.7 percenf in 2007. Limited-service hotels went to 58.7 percen t from 61.6 percent – a drop of 4.8 the largest slide in the region on apercentags basis. Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO of the Palm Beachh CountyConvention & Visitors Bureau, said the area saw the largest drops due to a calculated pullbac from corporate travelers. Though Palm Beach County has a diversde mixof hotels, it has to fight the perceptio n that it is only for the ultra-wealthy, he said.
“Ths combination of the economgy and the AIG effect has been nastyg to us for some he said, referring to populist outrage at executivezs of the failed financial company. “The corporate world has becomewvery tentative, very shy about going to upscale resorts for fear of an image backlash.” full-service hotels reported an average occupancy rate of 67.4 percent in 2008. That declined 2.6 percengt from 2007. The average daily rate charged for a roomat Miami’sd full-service hotels rose to $182.78 in 2008 from $181.30 in 2007, a 0.8 percent gain. Limited-service was up to $109.13 from The most expensive average daily rate in 2008was $187.
1p0 at Palm Beach full-service hotels. But, that slipped 1.3 percenyt from 2007. Limited service was down a half Broward’s limited-service hotels saw the biggest percentagee decline in ratesto $92.64 in 2008 from $96.24 in down 3.7 percent. Full-service Broward hotelx dropped 1.4 percent. “We are kind of trapped in a downspiralin gof rates,” said Nicki Grossman, president and CEO of the Greatet Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Parg of that is that rateds have gone up over the past few years so high, so fast.” While it’xs hard to predict, Broward’s limited-service sectoe may bounce back fastet than the full-service, she said.
The over the last few years, Broward has seen the most robust growth in demandfor limited-servicew rooms for passengers going on cruisesx and discount group-rate business. Nationwide, the average dailu rate was $164.31 in 2008, down from $166.69 in 2007. Gutierrez said she was cautiously optimistic that the worst is overfor Miami-Dade. Whilde occupancy declined in May compared to the same time last the rate of decline was no worse thanin April. For months, the declinesd had been getting worse, she said. “It’x an indication that we’ve probably hit bottom,” she “What we are seeing is some stabilitgy now.
”