The industry's prospects for 2009 look grim as anxious leisure and business travelers cut spending. By Roger Vincent. On New Year's Eve in downtown Los Angeles, hotel lobbies were crowded with revelers and guests, many of whom were planning to attend the Rose Parade or Rose Bowl football game in Pasadena the next day. But the holiday crowds concealed the uncomfortable fact that the incoming year would probably not be a very good one for the hospitality business.