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Business Conditions Survey:
Traveller accommodation
industries
Hoteliers' expectations for the summer quarter of 2008 are less optimistic
than expectations recorded for the previous four quarters.
Only 12% of hoteliers expected that the number of room nights booked between
July and September this year would be higher than in the third quarter of 2007.
In contrast, more than one-half expected the number of bookings to be lower.
About 42% of hoteliers anticipated a decline in the number of corporate
travellers for the third quarter. This was more than twice the proportion
recorded in the same three months of 2007. Almost half of hotel operators
expected occupancy rates to drop for the summer months, compared with only 14%
who expected an increase.
While still expecting average room rates to continue climbing, the proportion
of respondents expecting rates to fall was substantially higher in the third
quarter than in any of the previous four quarters. Just over one-third of hotel
operators (34%) anticipated the average daily room rates to rise between July
and September, a slightly higher proportion than those who anticipated a decline
(31%).
Hotel operators continued to cite a number of business impediments. Over
one-half (53%) cited exchange rates, while others pointed to excess room supply
and labour shortages. More than one-fifth (23%) reported regional economic
conditions had been a business impediment between April and June.
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