Hotel bookings to rise for holidays, firm says

By Jeannine DeFoe
Bloomberg News

Average U.S. hotel occupancies and room rates will increase over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, boosted by leisure travel, according to a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Occupancy will rise to 51 percent this year from 50.2 percent in 2002 over the four days of Thanksgiving, and increase to 45 percent from 44.3 percent over Christmas and New Year's, the company's hospitality and leisure division said.

In Hawai'i, which is traditionally one of the top five hotel markets nationwide in terms of occupancy and room rates, bookings should run more than 65 percent over the week of Thanksgiving, more than 74 percent for Christmas week and more than 81 percent for New Year's week, said Joseph Toy, president of Hospitality Advisors LLC.

"Thanksgiving has never been a major influx of arrivals or occupancy," said Toy. "It's traditionally a holiday people spend at home."

The stronger winter tourist season begins in mid-December and isn't in full stride until the end of January or early February, he said.

Leisure travel began to pick up in Hawai'i and nationwide in June after concerns about the Iraqi war, Sept. 11 and SARS began to subside, hotel industry officials have said.

Consumers may be booking more holiday vacations before hotels raise rates next year because of improving demand, said Bjorn Hanson, leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers' hospitality unit.

"There's a growing expectation on the part of consumers that rates will increase," Hanson said.

Four Seasons Hotels Inc. said its resorts are sold out for Christmas.

Advertiser staff writer David Butts contributed to this report.