Hotel Rates Up; Occupancy Steady

Los Angeles County’s hotel operators were able to boost the average price of their rooms by roughly 5% last year without triggering a drop in demand, largely because commercial opportunities, particularly in the new technology and foreign trade sectors, have been a magnet for business travelers.

In addition, business travelers flocked to the downtown Convention Center, which generated nearly 14,000 more overnight hotel stays last year than in 1998, according to the Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Although, statistically, occupancy last year was flat, Los Angeles County hotels saw their volume of overnight visitors increase about 1% even as they pushed average nightly room rates from $109.68 to $114.61, according to the study by PKF Consulting, which monitors the local hospitality industry. The report also found that the region’s major guest lodges were, on average, booked to roughly three-quarters capacity.

Last year’s showing comes on the heels of a similar performance in 1998 in which L.A. hotel operators jacked up the average price per room by nearly 9% while occupancy ticked up half a percentage point.