Increasing Hotel Occupancy Rates are Good News for Vacation Rentals
July 6, 2006. An article by Glenn Haussman in Hotel Interactive reports that “as the hotel industry continues to accelerate to record profitability, it also appears there will plenty of ‘no vacancy’ signs hanging in front of many hotels this summer.� It quotes PricewaterhouseCoopers, who predicts that last summer’s record of 3.136 million occupied room nights will be crushed. According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers forecast, total occupied rooms this summer will rise by 2.9 percent, accounting for 3.277 million occupied room nights
While this forecast equates to a 71.5 percent occupancy level, it won’t be enough to beat the previous summer occupancy record of 72.1 percent set in 2000. However, there are significantly more rooms in the marketplace now as the number of hotels has jumped by 7.7 percent since 2000.
A report issued last week by Priceline.com indicates this summer’s busiest destinations will be Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and New York City. The report says that prices are soaring for rooms in certain markets. For example, the report says the average price for a four star hotel room in Boston will be up 34.6 percent to $253 this summer from $188 last summer. Three star level properties in Boston, San Francisco and Seattle will all see double digit price increases of 20.5 percent, 19.3 percent and 12.9 percent respectively
These reports of high occupancy rates and even higher hotel price increases create a great opportunity for all kinds of alternative lodging. Owners of vacation homes in desirable destinations who can assure the traveler of an acceptable level of quality and luxury should benefit, whether the property is a beach house, a mountain cabin, a vacation cottage in a quaint village, or just a vacation condo in a major city. Now is a good time for vacation rental owners to show that they offer better value and more space than hotels
