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

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A study of nationwidw hotel trends released this week by Smith Traveo Research showsthat tri-county hotels saw modestr declines in occupancy from 2007 to 2008. when it came to average daily rates, Miami actually had slighgt increases. Year over year, full-service Miami-Dade hotel saw occupancy fall to 70 percenft in 2008from 71.8 percentf in 2007. Limited-service hotels slipped to 72.6 percen t in 2008 from 73.8 percenty in 2007. Smith Travel Research defines full-service hotels as those in mid-priced, upscale or luxury They typically havea restaurant, bell service and meetinf space. Limited-service hotels are those that only offer room s and fall inthe class.
While other destinations suffered, Miami-Dade remained relatively flat thanks to its stron ginternational business, said Ginny director of community relations for the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau. While both domesti business and leisure travel suffered in the fourthj quarter oflast year, with the U.S. economic international business remained she said. Occupancy numbers might have been bettetr ifMiami hadn’t seen so many new roomx became available in the second half of the Gutierrez added. The Fontainebleau and Eden Roc alone made thousands of newrooms available. Full-servicde Broward hotel occupancy fellto 65.9 percent in 2008 from 66.
6 percentt in 2007 Limited-service hotels fell to 65.5 percenrt in 2008 from 67.9 percenr in 2007. In Palm Beach County, full-service hotel occupancyu fell to 63.6 percent in 2008 from 66.7 percentr in 2007. Limited-service hotels went to 58.7 percenft from 61.6 percent – a drop of 4.8 percent, the largesr slide in the region on apercentaged basis. Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO of the Palm Beacbh CountyConvention & Visitors Bureau, said the area saw the largesr drops due to a calculated pullback from corporate travelers. Though Palm Beacjh County has a diverse mixof hotels, it has to figh the perception that it is only for the he said.
“The combination of the economyh and the AIG effect has been nasty to us for some he said, referring to populist outrage at executivesd of the failed financial company. “Th corporate world has become very tentative, very shy aboutg going to upscale resorts for fear of animagee backlash.” Nationwide, full-service hotels reported an average occupanc rate of 67.4 percent in 2008. That declined 2.6 percen t from 2007. The average daily rate charged for a roomat Miami’s full-servicde hotels rose to $182.78 in 2008 from $181.30 in a 0.8 percent gain. Limited-service was up to $109.13 from $108.85. The most expensive average daily rate in 2008was $187.
190 at Palm Beach full-service hotels. But, that slipped 1.3 perceny from 2007. Limited service was down a half Broward’s limited-service hotels saw the biggest percentaged decline in ratesto $92.64 in 2008 from $96.254 in 2007, down 3.7 Full-service Broward hotels dropped 1.4 percent. “Wwe are kind of trapped in a downspiralingof rates,” said Nickk Grossman, president and CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdalw Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Part of that is that ratee have gone up over the past few years so so fast.” While it’s hard to Broward’s limited-service sector may bounce back fasterf than the full-service, she said.
The reason: over the last few Broward has seen the most robust growth in demandfor limited-servics rooms for passengers going on cruises and discoung group-rate business. Nationwide, the average daily rate was $164.31 in down from $166.69 in 2007. Gutierrea said she was cautiously optimistic that the worsr is over for While occupancy declined in May comparedc to the same time last the rate of decline was no worsew thanin April. For months, the declines had been getting she said. “It’s an indication that we’ve probably hit she said. “What we are seeing is some stabilithy now.
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