American Hotel Association to meet in OKC Sunday
Hotel industry execs to gather for OKC summit
Journal Record
June 6, 2008
OKLAHOMA CITY – More than 150 top executives representing the nation’s hotel industry will gather Sunday in Oklahoma City for the third annual summer summit of the American Hotel and Lodging Association.
Turnout for the event is expected to be strong, even though association members are facing the same rising fuel costs experienced by their customer base, association President Joe McInerney said. The industry is weathering the current economy well, he said. “People are still confident this will be a good year,” he said, sharing the observations of other hotel operators. “One of the things about the American public is that they feel they have an obligation to take a vacation. It is their God-given right. … So they may not go as far, but they will go someplace. As long as gasoline is available, they will go.”
Presentations of economic analyses by industry insiders and ecological initiatives will be among the highlights of the five-day event. Joe Martin, owner of Hampton Inn and Stillwater Hospitality LLC, also will be installed as the organization’s next chairman.“As our industry continues to grow and diversify, this year’s event is merely a preview to Oklahoma City’s emerging presence on the national lodging industry’s playing field, which will undoubtedly prosper as Joe Martin moves up in the ranks as AH&LA’s incoming chairman in 2009,” McInerney said.
McInerney said travelers nationwide are still making reservations and fulfilling commitments they made earlier this year before gas prices spiked – although he admitted that he didn’t make his own reservations for the Oklahoma City event until just two weeks ago.
“What’s going to be the bellwether is to see what happens in the fourth quarter with the business traveler,” he said. “We’re starting to see a little bit of a slowdown with business travelers, but occupancy nationwide is showing only a small downturn of about .5 (point five) percent.“Our average rate is up, and our revenue per available room is going to be up as well this year about 3.7 percent. So even with a drop in occupancy, it’s still going to be a good year,” he said.
This is the first time the summer event will be he held in Oklahoma City, so it’s an opportunity to showcase the area as well as the recently renovated, historic Skirvin Hotel hosting the summit, Skirvin General Manager John Williams said. Neither he nor McInerney were able to discuss the room rates for members attending the event. Williams said, however, “It was not a heavily discounted piece of business. They’re paying regular Skirvin rates.” Even though Williams is hosting his peers, he doesn’t feel any undue performance anxiety, he said.“This might sound a little silly, but we deal with these kinds of professionals every day. They might not be lodging industry professionals, but they’re CEOs of various organizations, law firms, banks and whatever. We deal with some of the highest-profile folks who come through the city,” Williams said. “So the whole idea is just to absolutely, positively get it right every single day, and not just rally for one group.”“That being said, obviously these are our peers in the industry and they’re going to have our full attention,” he said.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by metro
Bookmarks