Big-City Hotels Suffer a Relapse

Air Travel Woes Keep Occupancy Down in D.C., Elsewhere

Hospitality analysts and tourism promoters said the industry's comeback has stagnated as leisure and business travelers still are reluctant to return to large cities, six weeks after the September terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and in New York.

"It's rebounded from what we saw after the 11th, as hotels emptied, but the rebound has slowed down now," said Mark Lomanno, president of Smith Travel Research in Hendersonville, Tenn., which released figures this week. "The industry was hoping every week was going to be better than the week before and now we're starting to see it slow."

In cities such as New York, Washington and San Francisco where occupancy rates at hotels dropped to 20 and 30 percent -- and in some cases into the single digits -- immediately after the attacks, some previously booked group business is starting to return. But those markets still are not recovering as quickly as drive-to destinations.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2001Oct25.html