US: Travel cuts to hit downtown hotels | chicagobusiness.com
fter three great years, downtown hotels are facing tougher times as businesses slash travel budgets and cash-strapped tourists stay home. The numbers don’t show it yet: The average downtown hotel room rate rose 4.8%, to $189.16, in the first eight months of the year, according to Smith Travel Research. The downtown occupancy rate slipped only slightly to 71.8% during the first eight months of 2008, compared to 74.4% during the same period of 2007. And revenue per available room, a closely watched metric that factors in room rate and occupancy, increased 1.3% to $135.89 per room.
