"Of note with some humor in one hand and sadness in the other was an objection to upscale hotels charging above $300 a night and daring to charge for a bottle of water $5-$8. These travelers are looking for bigger rooms with more room to relax and to work in. They are demanding Wi-Fi internet connectivity and recognition from the staff. Another change was allotted time to have participants schedule individual meetings with 25 Lenders in a session called ATM Networking Session.
All the "Who's Who" of the Hospitality industry were there with the exception of a very conspicuous absence by Marriott due to conflict with Bush's second inaugural events in Washington where Marriott is headquartered. Of note is that 10% of the registrants were from International markets.
From the international companies, Starwood was the most visible. This was probably due to two reasons. One, Barry Sternlicht was honored through a tribute dinner with proceeds going to the American Hotel and Lodging Education Foundation and the other one the new CEO Steven J. Heyer was present throughout the Conference and participated in a CEO panel with an impressive showing and knowledge of how to improve Brands and their performance, therefore validating why Barry Sternlicht chose someone like him from outside the industry.
Both Steven Bollenbach from Hilton and Henry Silverman from Cendant were interviewed by Financial Times US Managing editor, Lionel Barber and both were very optimistic about the current upward trends of our industry pointing out to a full recovery by 2005-2006.
All CEO's in various panels complained about having to spend too much of their time in Corporate Governance and trying to comply with SEC new regulations after the accounting irregularities of companies like Enron. This time is taking them away from time needed to run their business more effectively. While they recognize the need for some changes, they all complained that the Government may have gotten carried away to opposite extremes.
The hottest topic in this Conference and the newest with most mentions was the emergence of Condo-Hotel development in both Resort and Downtown markets.
Pricewaterhouse Coopers forecasts record Aggregate Profits and profits per available room in 2005 and 2006. according to PwC, the ;lodging industry in the USA will experience a 29.9% increase in 2004 profits to $16.6 billion, a 25% in 2005 to $ 20.8 Billion and in 2006 a record profit of $25.2 billion.
Overall the Conference was very upbeat pointing again to the recovery since 9/11."
Report Submitted by IH&RA Past President, Eric Pfeffer.
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IH&RA Past President, Eric Pfeffer, President, The Pfeffer Group LLC, International Solutions
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