Stephen Rushmore,
President and Founder,
HVS International

HVS International is proud to partner with NYU�s Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Travel Administration in the publication of the 2000/2001 Manhattan Hotel Market Overview. An important component of this annual industry research project is the data continuously collected by our appraisers for the HVS International Lodging Databank that serves as the cornerstone for the statistics contained in HVS reports. Combined with the efforts of NYU�s talented graduate students, we are pleased to present this Overview.

New York City has been referred to as the �center of the universe.� Unique in every way, it is unlike other cities in the United States that constantly add a significant number of hotel units. The new rooms planned for New York City are essentially inconsequential to the total room base and, therefore, should not have a prolonged influence on its future occupancy.

It is common knowledge that the industry is feeling the effects of a downturn. For the first time in many months, we have seen advertisements for discounted weekend hotel rates for NYC hotels in the Sunday New York Times Travel Section. Though this signals a slight decline in occupancy, the City�s hotels are still realizing tremendous profits.

As we have witnessed previously, the recent challenges experienced by investors on Wall Street are impacting the travel and leisure industries. However, we believe that the hotel segment has remained relatively strong and will continue its gradual recovery as we approach the 2001 winter holiday season.

Click here to visit the
HVS  International web site

Table I:  Manhattan First-Quarter Operating History
              (1996 Through Year-to-Date March, 2001)

Data provided by Hotel RevMAX, a New York-based hotel data reporting and revenue management service, suggests that the boutique segment may be capturing customers from the first-class and luxury segments. Hotel RevMAX compared the performance of a sample of Manhattan hotels from the first quarter of 2000 to the first quarter of 2001, reporting results for the boutique, first-class, luxury, and tourist segments. Supply of boutique hotel rooms increased 39% from the first quarter of 2000 to the first quarter of 2001. In the same period, the number of occupied room nights in the boutique segment increased by 67,312 nights, or 25%. Occupied room nights in the first-class and luxury segments combined declined by 75,337 rooms from 1,944,922 in 2000. The rough balance of the boutique segment�s gains and the first-class and luxury segment�s losses suggests that the boutique segment may have sifted off about 3% of their combined demand.

The tourist segment has so far experienced the fewest additions to supply; only the Red Roof Inn joined the tourist market in 2000. A Best Western and a Comfort Inn, both in the under-supplied Javits Center area, will open in 2001. In the Hotel RevMAX sample, a slight decline in the number of available room nights and a small increase in occupied rooms between the first quarter of 2000 and the first quarter of 2001 enabled the tourist segment to improve its market penetration. Of the four segments, only the tourist hotels enjoyed a RevPAR increase in the first quarter of 2001. We note, however, that the Hotel RevMAX data does not include the operating results of the Red Roof Inn, and consequently, first-quarter data for this segment is slightly skewed.

Table II:  Proposed Hotels in Manhattan

back to top

next page

Click on the links below for information on:

New York City Hotel Survey

HVS International

The Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Travel Administration

New York University Annual International Hospitality Investment Conference

Acknowledgements

Manhattan Operating Statistics

New Supply

Recent Changes to Hotel Supply in Manhattan

Manhattan First-Quarter Operating History

Proposed Hotels in Manhattan

First-Quarter Operating Statistics by Market Segment

Manhattan Operating History and Forecast

Click on the links below to read quotes from the following individuals:

Rudolph W. Giuliani,
Mayor,
New York City

Jonathan M. Tisch,
Chairman & CEO,
Loews Hotels;
Chairman,
Travel Business Roundtable

Joseph E. Spinnato,
President,
Hotel Association of NYC, Inc.

Randy Smith,
President,
Smith Travel Research

Stephen Rushmore,
President and Founder, 
HVS International

Cristyne L. Nicholas,
President & CEO,
NYC & Company

Dr. Lalia Rach,
Associate Dean,
Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Travel Administration,
New York University

To download a printable PDF version of this survey, click here.