NYC Hotels Starting to Worry About the Economy
October 21, 2008 at 1:30 PM |
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Well, color us surprised: hotels in New York City are starting to hurt. The end of the year is traditionally the strongest for NYC tourism (with parades and outdoor skating rinks and such) -- but booking for hotels over the next few months is falling below last year's levels, while the number of cancellations is starting to climb.
The Sunday New York Times had a rather lengthy story describing the state of the hotel industry in NYC and how it's faring during the economic downturn -- but what does this mean for the guest?
Interviewed in the article (and serving as the primary focus, really) are chain hotel bigwigs: Jonathan Tisch of Loews and Vijay Dandapani of Apple Core Hotels among them, who both report declining occupancy (though the "situation is not yet dire").
And as the dollar has started to gain strength against the euro in the last few weeks, concerns about international guests starting to slow have surfaced -- but, again, nobody seems to know if this is just a phase or a trend that may result in a crowded market (especially considering all the NYC hotels in the pipeline for 2009). Jonathan Tisch sums it up:
"My sense is that we'll be O.K. through the holidays," Mr. Tisch said. "My real concern is what happens after the first of the year."
So, we suppose now we just wait and see. It's likely that if this trend keeps up, we'll see a bit of a kickback in chain hotel room rates in the city. But if and when the popular boutique players like Gramercy Park, the Gansevoort and Bowery Hotel start to roll back rates, things are going to get serious.
by
Jenna
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