Hotel Sticker Shock Creates Opportunity for Vacation Rentals
Hotel stays are getting more expensive, surpassing recent projections of rate increases for 2006. The New York Times reports that hotels across the country have begun to push rates up further this year as they anticipate strong demand by travelers of all kinds—from business to leisure to groups. The article quotes a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers that predicts that average daily hotel rates nationwide will rise by 5.8% this year after an increase of 5.3% last year, and in many major business travel cities, the increases will be even higher. In New York, according to the consulting firm’s report, the average price of a hotel room is projected to go up by 14 percent; in Miami the figure is 9.1 percent and in Chicago, by 7.6 percent. Another source is quoted as saying that some business travelers may pay 30 percent more during peak times. For the full article, click here.
The sticker shock of these sharp increases will create additional opportunities for operators of alternative lodging such as vacation rentals who are located in or near some of these expensive travel destinations. While this will be truer for leisure travelers, there are even opportunities for bookings by some business travelers. On more than one occasion we have had attendees of conferences being held in expensive local hotels choose to stay at our vacation rentals located in Asheville, NC. In our travels, we have sometimes stayed at B&B’s in a large city while attending a convention.
