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Travel industry expects only a modest recovery in 2010

December 15, 2009 | Online Travel

This is typically when the industry issues its forecasts for the year ahead, and those forecasts are often shaded with optimism about better times ahead. But this time, many travel executives and analysts are declining to make rosy predictions, writes The New York Times.

The hotel industry, though historically more profitable than the airlines, faces a more daunting problem in attracting business. Scott Berman, hospitality practice leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers, said he expected hotel occupancy levels to edge up to 55.8 percent in 2010, from 55.2 percent for 2009. The industry’s historical average is 63 percent.

Rates are expected to show an 8.8 percent decline in 2009, and to drop an additional 1.8 percent next year, Mr. Berman said. But he said his conversations with hotel executives indicated that reservations had been picking up in the last two months, an encouraging sign but one he did not want to overstate.

“I don’t want to paint this as we’ve done anything but turn a corner,” Mr. Berman said. “Anybody who suggests that the industry has come back is not correct.”

Get the full story at The New York Times

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