The U.S. lodging industry rebounded strongly after its 2001 to 2003 industry recession. RevPAR growth exceeded 7.8 percent each year from 2004 through 2006. While hotels achieved a relatively strong 5.8 percent growth in RevPAR in 2007, industry performance started to show its first signs of softness. During the year, demand grew less than 1.0 percent contributing to a slight drop in occupancy (-0.4 percent).
