Jamie Lane

The performance patterns of Florida and Texas markets after major hurricanes in 2017 could indicate the long-term outlook of Puerto Rico’s hotel industry.

Travelers seem to remain in love with Airbnb and its ilk, as the San Francisco-based provider makes further inroads into the hotel industry.

An analysis of Airbnb's presence and potential impact on the U.S. Hotel Industry.

PKF Hospitality Research Senior Economist Jamie Lane leads the hotel-industry forecasting and research efforts at the Atlanta-based company, which this summer was acquired by commercial real-estate services giant CBRE. Along with PKF Hospitality President Mark Woodworth, Lane this month co-authored a study analyzing the potential impact the Ebola scare may have on U.S. hotel room demand, and used the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak of 2003 as a primary point of reference. He… Show more

PKF Hospitality Research Senior Economist Jamie Lane leads the hotel-industry forecasting and research efforts at the Atlanta-based company, which this summer was acquired by commercial real-estate services giant CBRE. Along with PKF Hospitality President Mark Woodworth, Lane this month co-authored a study analyzing the potential impact the Ebola scare may have on U.S. hotel room demand, and used the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) outbreak of 2003 as a primary point of reference. He spoke with Travel Weekly hotels editor Danny King. Show less

The U.S. Commerce Department released a negative estimate of real gross-domestic-product change for fourth quarter today. Given the correlation between changes in GDP and the demand for hotel rooms, is this an ominous sign for the U.S. hotel industry? We at PKF do not think so, and here’s why:

Resources are allocated within hotels on a daily basis to adjust for changes in guest volume. When hotels book more rooms, they require additional front desk agents to ensure long lines do not form at check in, extra cooks to cover the increased food and beverage volume, additional housekeepers to turn over a larger quantity of rooms, etc.
Typically, this process does not operate as efficiently in reverse. When hotel occupancy declines, the front desk staff does not quickly shrink, nor do… Show more

Resources are allocated within hotels on a daily basis to adjust for changes in guest volume. When hotels book more rooms, they require additional front desk agents to ensure long lines do not form at check in, extra cooks to cover the increased food and beverage volume, additional housekeepers to turn over a larger quantity of rooms, etc.
Typically, this process does not operate as efficiently in reverse. When hotel occupancy declines, the front desk staff does not quickly shrink, nor do the line cooks become unemployed, nor do the housekeepers disappear.
Because hotel management wants to be certain that occupancy declines are permanent and not waste training resources, some portion of these so called ‘variable’ expenses actually are fixed to a point along the occupancy continuum, and likewise some of expense categories traditionally thought of as ‘fixed’ are indeed variable at certain occupancy levels. Show less

Our current Hotel Horizons supply forecast calls for very little supply growth during the next five years. The occupancy and ADR variables from which new supply is triggered are not projected to return to levels that warrant supply additions until 2012-2013 at the earliest.

In May of 2011, PKF Hospitality Research prepared a special report entitled Oil Prices and Lodging Risk. Therein, Dr. Jack Corgel and Jamie Lane find that when oil prices increase beyond normal levels, individual consumer and business spending power is reduced, which in turn has a negative multiplying effect throughout the macro economy in general and the lodging industry in specific.

To download a complimentary copy of the Oil Prices and Lodging Risk report, please visit… Show more

In May of 2011, PKF Hospitality Research prepared a special report entitled Oil Prices and Lodging Risk. Therein, Dr. Jack Corgel and Jamie Lane find that when oil prices increase beyond normal levels, individual consumer and business spending power is reduced, which in turn has a negative multiplying effect throughout the macro economy in general and the lodging industry in specific.

To download a complimentary copy of the Oil Prices and Lodging Risk report, please visit www.pkfc.com/oilpricesandlodgingrisk Show less

Hotel demand is comprised of two legs: pricing and local economic performance. Having established the first leg in 2010 (ADR discounts lead to an occupancy recovery), hotels still need their second leg—based on strong income and employment growth—firmly on the ground before managers can raise rates to more profitable levels. If hotels increase ADR before their second leg is on the ground, they too will fall over. This article discusses the fundamentals of sustainable demand growth.