S. Fla. hotel occupancy dips in 2008 - San Francisco Business Times:

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A study of nationwide hotel trends released this week by Smithn Travel Research showsthat tri-county hotels saw modestg declines in occupancy from 2007 to 2008. However, when it came to averag e daily rates, Miami actuallyy had slight increases. Year over year, full-service Miami-Dadew hotels saw occupancy fall to 70 perceny in 2008from 71.8 percent in 2007. Limited-service hotelsw slipped to 72.6 percent in 2008 from 73.8 percenyt in 2007. Smith Travel Research defines full-service hotels as those in upscale orluxury range. They typically have a bell service andmeeting space. Limited-servics hotels are those that only offefr rooms and fall inthe class.
While other destinations suffered, Miami-Dadwe remained relatively flat thanks to its strong international saidGinny Gutierrez, director of community relationsd for the Greater Miami Convention Visitors Bureau. While both domestic business and leisure travelk suffered in the fourth quarter of last withthe U.S. economic crisis, international business remaine steady, she said. Occupancy numberse might have been better ifMiamui hadn’t seen so many new rooms becamse available in the second half of the year, Gutierresz added. The Fontainebleau and Eden Roc alonre made thousands of newrooms Full-service Broward hotel occupancy fell to 65.9 percent in 2008 from 66.
6 percenr in 2007 Limited-service hotels fell to 65.5 percen in 2008 from 67.9 percent in 2007. In Palm Beacgh County, full-service hotel occupancyu fell to 63.6 percent in 2008 from 66.7 percenyt in 2007. Limited-service hotels went to 58.7 percent from 61.6 percent – a drop of 4.8 percent, the largesr slide in the region on a percentage Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO of the Palm Beacn County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the area saw the largestr drops due to a calculated pullback from corporate Though Palm Beach County has a diverse mix of it has to fight the perception that it is only for the he said.
“The combinatiom of the economy and the AIG effecf has been nasty to us for some he said, referring to populistf outrage at executives of the failed financial company. “The corporate world has becomevery tentative, very shy about going to upscale resorts for fear of an images backlash.” Nationwide, full-service hotels reported an average occupancy rate of 67.4 percenft in 2008. That declined 2.6 percent from 2007. The averagde daily rate charged for a roomat Miami’x full-service hotels rose to $182.78 in 2008 from $181.3p0 in 2007, a 0.8 percent Limited-service was up to $109.13 from The most expensive average daily rate in 2008 was $187.
19 at Palm Beach full-service hotels. But, that slippesd 1.3 percent from 2007. Limited service was down a half Broward’s limited-service hotels saw the biggest percentage decline in ratesto $92.64 in 2008 from $96.24 in 2007, down 3.7 Full-service Broward hotels dropped 1.4 “We are kind of trapped in a downspiraling of said Nicki Grossman, president and CEO of the Greated Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors “Part of that is that rates have gone up over the past few yearsx so high, so fast.” While it’s hard to predict, Broward’s limited-servicde sector may bounce back faster than the she said.
The reason: over the last few Broward has seen the most robust growth in demanedfor limited-service rooms for passengers goint on cruises and discount group-ratwe business. Nationwide, the average daily rate was $164.311 in 2008, down from $166.69 in 2007. Gutierrex said she was cautiouslyt optimistic that the worst is over for While occupancy declined in May compared to the same time last the rate of decline was no worsew thanin April. For months, the declines had been gettingg worse, she said. “It’s an indication that we’ve probably hit she said.
“What we are seeing is some stability