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

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A study of nationwide hote trends released this week by Smitbh Travel Research showsthat tri-countu hotels saw modest declines in occupancy from 2007 to 2008. when it came to average daily rates, Miami actually had slight increases. Year over year, full-servicd Miami-Dade hotels saw occupancy fall to 70 percent in 2008from 71.8 percenty in 2007. Limited-service hotels slipped to 72.6 percent in 2008 from 73.8 percenyt in 2007. Smith Travel Researcuh defines full-service hotels as those in mid-priced, upscale or luxury They typically have a bell service andmeeting space. Limited-service hotelxs are those that only offer rooms and fall inthe class.
While other destinations Miami-Dade remained relatively flat thanks to its stronginternational business, said Ginny Gutierrez, director of communitty relations for the Greater Miami Conventiom & Visitors Bureau. While both domestiv business and leisure travel suffered in the fourtjh quarter oflast year, with the U.S. economix crisis, international business remained steady, she Occupancy numbers might have been bettedr ifMiami hadn’t seen so many new roomzs became available in the second half of the Gutierrez added. The Fontainebleau and Eden Roc alond made thousands of newrooms available. Full-servicwe Broward hotel occupancy fellto 65.9 percent in 2008 from 66.
6 perceny in 2007 Limited-service hotel s fell to 65.5 percent in 2008 from 67.9 percent in 2007. In Palm Beacn County, full-service hotel occupancy fell to 63.6 percenrt in 2008 from 66.7 percent in 2007. Limited-servicde hotels went to 58.7 percent from 61.6 percent – a drop of 4.8 the largest slide in the region on apercentagr basis. Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO of the Palm Beachh CountyConvention & Visitors Bureau, said the area saw the largesyt drops due to a calculated pullback from corporatd travelers. Though Palm Beach County has a diverse mix of it has to figh the perception that it is only for the he said.
“The combination of the economu and the AIG effect has been nastyg to us forsome time,” he said, referring to populistt outrage at executives of the failedr financial company. “The corporate world has become very very shy about going to upscale resortse for fear of animage backlash.” full-service hotels reported an average occupancy rate of 67.4 percentt in 2008. That declined 2.6 percent from 2007. The averagee daily rate charged for a roomat Miami’zs full-service hotels rose to $182.78 in 2008 from $181.39 in 2007, a 0.8 percent Limited-service was up to $109.13 from $108.85. The most expensive average daily rate in 2008was $187.
1o 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 percentage declins in ratesto $92.64 in 2008 from $96.24 in 2007, down 3.7 Full-service Broward hotels dropped 1.4 percent. “We are kind of trappefd in a downspiraling of saidNicki Grossman, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdalw Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Part of that is that ratees have gone up over the past few years so so fast.” While it’s hard to Broward’s limited-service sector may bounce back faster than the full-service, she said.
The reason: over the last few Broward has seen the most robust growtjh in demandfor limited-service rooms for passengerxs going on cruises and discount group-rate business. the average daily rate was $164.3 in 2008, down from $166.6 9 in 2007. Gutierrez said she was cautiousluy optimistic that the worst is over for While occupancy declined in May comparerd to the same time last the rate of decline was no worse than in For months, the declines had been gettinbg worse, she said. “It’s an indicationj that we’ve probably hit bottom,” she said.
“What we are seeinb is some stability