Hotel Spas Lag Industry Recovery,
But Will Lead In Healthier Times

While the U.S. lodging industry began to recover from the great recession in 2010, the recovery for hotel spas has lagged. Spa operations within the nation's hotels and resorts continued to suffer declines in both revenues and profits in 2010, and it is estimated that recovery for hotel spas did not commence until 2011.

These findings come from the 2011 edition of Trends® in the Hotel Spa Industry, an annual survey conducted by PKF Consulting since 2007. The report presents aggregate revenue, expense, and profit data from the spa departments of 151 hotels located across the U.S. Leased spa operations, day spas, and destination spas were excluded from the survey.

To read more about the results of the 2011 Trends® in the Hotel Spa Industry survey, click here. Visit www.pkfc.com/spatrends to purchase your copy of the report.

Hotel Horizons Market Update:
January 2012

Mark Woodworth, President of PKF Hospitality Research, and Jack Corgel, Ph.D., Senior Advisor to PKF Hospitality Research and Robert C. Baker Professor of Real Estate at Cornell University, discuss finve reasons for optimism in 2012.

Shale Natural Gas Fueling
Pennsylvania Hotel Industry

While the vast majority of U.S. lodging markets were suffering from declines in revenue during the recent recession, hotels in northeastern Pennsylvania bucked national trends and achieved significant growth in RevPAR each and every year from 2007 through 2011. During this period, RevPAR for hotels located in the region grew at an estimated average annual rate of 14.8 percent. This compares to the 1.7 percent average annual decline in RevPAR experienced by the overall U.S. lodging industry during the same time frame.

To read more about the impact of shale natural gas extraction on lodging demand and pricing, please click here.

PKF AT ALIS

PKF Consulting is proud to be a Platinum Sponsor of the 2012 Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) to be held in Los Angeles from January 23-25, 2012. ALIS is hosted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association and the Burba Hotel Network. Proceeds from the conference benefit the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation. The three-day event features nearly 100 industry leaders presenting at a variety of plenary, breakout, and networking sessions.

Making presentations from our firm this year will be PKF Hospitality Research President Mark Woodworth and Senior Vice President Bruce Baltin.

For more information on this valuable conference, please visit the ALIS website at www.ALISconference.com.

Hotel Wages To Rise In 2012

According to WageWatch, Inc. of Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. hotels are budgeting on average pay raises of three percent for both exempt and non-exempt employees in 2012. The survey sample consisted of 3,420 hotels and was completed on January 3, 2012.

To learn more about pay raises by property type, and the economic factors influencing hotel labor costs, please click here to read our guest article prepared by Randy Pullen, President of WageWatch, Inc.

2012 TRENDS® IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY

Do You Want A Complimentary Report?

PKF Hospitality Research has begun collecting data for the 2012 edition of Trends® in the Hotel Industry. Trends® is our firm's annual survey of operating statements from thousands of hotels across the United States. This year marks the 76^th year of the survey.

In case you are not familiar with our Trends® report, please visit our website to view sample pages from last year's publication:

www.pkfc.com/trendssurvey

If you own or operate a hotel in the United States, PKF Hospitality Research invites you to participate in our Trends® survey. Participation is both complimentary and confidential. In appreciation of your participation, you will receive a complimentary copy of the final report, as well as discounts on other PKF Hospitality Research products and services.

To learn more about participating in the Trends® survey, visit www.pkfc.com/trendssurvey.