May/June 2007
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National News Data show continued decline in overseas travel to U.S. Figures from the Department of Commerce show that far from enjoying a "full recovery," America's travel economy continues to lose millions of overseas visitors, costing America billions in revenue, according to the Discover America Partnership. "We have lost nearly 60 million international travelers since 9/11 and the problem is only getting worse," said Geoff Freeman, executive director of the partnership, a coalition of American business leaders. While the overall number of international visitors to the U.S. finally returned to pre-9/11 levels in 2006, travelers from Canada and Mexico account for the increase. Overseas travel has declined 17 percent since 2001. "It's time for Congress to address this growing problem in a way that both strengthens our security and improves the efficiency of the travel process," Freeman said.
U.S. tourists have been shopping less but paying more for their hotel rooms, and the result, in recent months, has been 8 percent more economic impact from tourism than at the same time last year, according to a report released this week by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. On the heels of a decline in economic output in the previous quarter, it shows a welcome rebound. The tourism industry across America grew more than three times faster than the economy as a whole did. In 2006, the tourism economy grew by a more modest 3 percent, the fifth year of growth, though it was slightly less than the growth rate for the economy as a whole.
Sleep trumps almost everything else for road warriors, according to a new consumer survey conducted for Hyatt Place, the new lifestyle hotel brand officially launched this week by Global Hyatt. According to the survey, 40 percent of those responding said they would forego sex, coffee or use of their cell phone in exchange for a good night’s sleep while on the road, while 46 percent said they have more time for themselves when they travel for business. The new survey also found that for many travelers, business and leisure travel overlap. Ninety percent of traveling respondents said they do not separate their personal or professional lives, while 50 percent said they often were simultaneously involved in personal and professional activities.
Mid-price hotels without food and beverage service and upscale hotels will increase supply at more than twice the rate of the overall hotel industry, according to data released on April 27 by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The study indicated that with overall hotel supply growth estimated at 1.6 percent up in 2007 from 2006, the mid-price hotels without food and beverage will increase the most of any hotel tier at a rate of 3.6 percent. PricewaterhouseCoopers expects a nearly identical growth rate for upscale supply growth at 3.5 percent in 2007, more than double its 2006 growth rate of 1.7 percent. "Although the total increase in supply is dramatic, an increase of 1.6 percent is still below the long-term average of 2.2 percent," according to Bjorn Hanson, principal with PricewaterhouseCoopers' hospitality and leisure group.
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