PricewaterhouseCoopers Forecasts Record Demand for Year End Travel
NOVEMBER 29, 2006. PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasts that room night demand for the upcoming holiday period will increase by 2.6 percent over the prior year to a new record level of 2.39 million average occupied rooms per night between November 23, 2006 and January 1, 2007.
Occupancy for the four-day Thanksgiving period (November 23, 2006 through November 26, 2006) is forecast to increase by 0.7 percent to 52.9 percent, compared to the same period last year. The nine-day Christmas holiday period of December 25, 2006 through January 1, 2007 is forecast to increase by 1.7 percent to 48.8 percent, compared to the same period last year. The Thanksgiving and Christmas period room increases are less than the entire holiday period because this year both Christmas and New Year's Day fall on a Monday. When holidays occur on a weekend, there is more leisure travel from extended weekends and a concentration of travel in the interim week.
"Lower gasoline prices, gains in personal income, expectations of favorable year-end bonuses, increased inbound international travelers and no events, such as last year's hurricanes, that could negatively effect hotel supply and demand are among the factors that will result in a year of record demand for hotels" says Bjorn Hanson, Ph.D., a principal with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
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