Chicago, Oct 13: The price of a room on the road, typically the second-biggest component of business travel costs, may be headed up again. The lodging industry “is moving from a deeply pessimistic stage to a cautiously optimistic phase,” says Dev Chekitan, a marketing professor at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.

Stephen Bollenbach, CEO of Hilton Hotels, said recently that business is getting better “very quickly” and operators have the upper hand on rates because not that many new hotels have been built in recent times.
Ray Neidl, an airlines and lodging analyst for New York’s Blaylock & Partners, says: “It looks like they (prices) are generally headed up. There is new capacity, trendy new hotels.”
It may seem the industry has begun an expansion boomlet. Announcements of new or revamped properties are almost weekly. Le Meridien recently opened a hotel in Jaipur, after one in Minneapolis earlier this year. Four Seasons opened a property in Miami; Hilton has had a stream of new locations; and renovations of older buildings are commonplace. Bureau Report