Most of the hospitality industry continues to struggle and if you think your economic conditions will change if Obama gets re-elected or Romney takes over, consider this.
Increased spending for health-care, proposed tax increases, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle unable to curb spending could send the economy into recession, according to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, if not over the precipice.
A look at today’s federal deficit clock shows that the outstanding public debt is $15,883,015,621,824.60 and continuing to grow by $3.9 billion each day. Our individual debt share is a whopping $50,719.22.
At the State level, spending and public pensions are pushing finances to the brink of collapse and the drumbeat of the number of cities filing for bankruptcy grows louder every day.
And the effect on hotels? Anemic growth.
According to a PwC report, occupancy will grow from 60.1 percent to 60.9 percent this year, ADR growth is projected at 5.1 percent, up 1.4 percent from the previous year, and RevPAR will decrease by 1.7 percent.
We can agree or disagree with reports and projections as compiled by PwC, STR, PKF or anyone else you’d like to throw on the pile, things don’t look good now and for the foreseeable future unless things change at the Federal, State and local levels.
The longer it takes for our government officials to get on the same page, the longer we’ll remain in a holding pattern.
Let’s just hope the plane doesn’t run out of fuel.
