The U.S. hotel industry welcomed the dawn of 2010. Performance measures in the first half of 2009 were particularly troublesome for many companies, and only in the closing months of the year were there glimmers of hope. By December 2009, a number of major markets started to experience increases in occupancy and revenue per available room (revPAR), following what in some cases has been multi-year, record-breaking declines. In particular, steep price discounting appeared to be a less important strategy in filling rooms. As noted in this report, domestic tourism activity is starting to revive for a few select markets, declines in international travel are lessening and business travel remains mostly stagnant.