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Hotel Profits Will Rise by 13.4 Percent in 2004
Aired December 12, 2003 - 06:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: But time now for a little 'Business Buzz.' Hotel profits are rising thanks to business travelers.
Carrie Lee has the story from the Nasdaq market site in New York.
Sounds like the economy is picking up -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: And this industry is certainly picking up, Carol. Business travelers are hitting the road in large numbers, levels not seen since 2000. And that means that hotel profits are on the rise as well. This is a very important segment for hotels. Business travelers are responsible for the majority of hotel sales. So when this is picking up, this means very good news for these hoteliers.
A couple of details in new surveys here, Hospitality Advisors International expects business travel to rebound next year. Said the U.S. hotel occupancy is up to 64.9 percent from 61.8. Others find that most business travelers say they expect their level of travel to either increase or stay the same over the next six months. And then finally, PFK Consulting says that, in a study expected to come out today, hotel profits will rise by a healthy 13.4 percent next year.
The good news in this for consumers, Carol, is that hotel prices aren't really expected to go up all that much, maybe a few dollars on average. So good news for investors, potentially, as well as consumers, relative good news for consumers.
LIN: Yes, you were reading my mind. I was just thinking, wow, those hotel prices we have been enjoying for the last couple of years might actually be going up. But that is good news.
LEE: Right.
LIN: Hey, what do you think the markets are going to do today, nice to see 10,000 again?
LEE: You know a lot of people sort of waiting for this psychologically important level. Let me just give a quick recap. A late day rally pushing the Dow to close above the 10,000 mark for the first time since May of 2002. You can see the Dow ending higher by almost 1 percent. The Nasdaq really leading the gains in terms of percentage gains, up 2 percent. The S&P 500, of course, in the plus column as well. Futures pointing to a bit of a higher open. So we could see some carry through on to yesterday's gains.
One stock to watch in the Dow, Boeing. U.S. prosecutors have started a new investigation involving the aircraft maker. Basically focusing on a relationship between the company's former chief financial officer and another employee. So Boeing stock to watch this Friday -- Carol.
LIN: Will do. Thanks, Carrie.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 12, 2003 - 06:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: But time now for a little 'Business Buzz.' Hotel profits are rising thanks to business travelers.
Carrie Lee has the story from the Nasdaq market site in New York.
Sounds like the economy is picking up -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: And this industry is certainly picking up, Carol. Business travelers are hitting the road in large numbers, levels not seen since 2000. And that means that hotel profits are on the rise as well. This is a very important segment for hotels. Business travelers are responsible for the majority of hotel sales. So when this is picking up, this means very good news for these hoteliers.
A couple of details in new surveys here, Hospitality Advisors International expects business travel to rebound next year. Said the U.S. hotel occupancy is up to 64.9 percent from 61.8. Others find that most business travelers say they expect their level of travel to either increase or stay the same over the next six months. And then finally, PFK Consulting says that, in a study expected to come out today, hotel profits will rise by a healthy 13.4 percent next year.
The good news in this for consumers, Carol, is that hotel prices aren't really expected to go up all that much, maybe a few dollars on average. So good news for investors, potentially, as well as consumers, relative good news for consumers.
LIN: Yes, you were reading my mind. I was just thinking, wow, those hotel prices we have been enjoying for the last couple of years might actually be going up. But that is good news.
LEE: Right.
LIN: Hey, what do you think the markets are going to do today, nice to see 10,000 again?
LEE: You know a lot of people sort of waiting for this psychologically important level. Let me just give a quick recap. A late day rally pushing the Dow to close above the 10,000 mark for the first time since May of 2002. You can see the Dow ending higher by almost 1 percent. The Nasdaq really leading the gains in terms of percentage gains, up 2 percent. The S&P 500, of course, in the plus column as well. Futures pointing to a bit of a higher open. So we could see some carry through on to yesterday's gains.
One stock to watch in the Dow, Boeing. U.S. prosecutors have started a new investigation involving the aircraft maker. Basically focusing on a relationship between the company's former chief financial officer and another employee. So Boeing stock to watch this Friday -- Carol.
LIN: Will do. Thanks, Carrie.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
