MINNEAPOLIS, MN— AmericInn International LLCs annual conference being held here at the Minneapolis Convention Center opened with good news: The chain had weathered the waves of both the recession and Sept. 11 impact with flat but stable occupancies and upticks in both RevPAR and ADR in 2001. Luke Fowler, AmericInn president/CEO, said compared to the industry, which faced as much as a 60% decline in travel in the weeks following the attack on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, AmericInn was “positioned well to weather the storm. He cited a combination of having good distribution in drive-to markets and Americans wanting to support American businesses and “stay local.” “And with the slowing economy that started over a year ago, travelers more than ever have been looking for the kind of value we offer,” he added. The result was a gain in RevPAR, which rose from $38.87 in 2000 to $39.55 in 2001. Likewise, ADR rose from $65.25 to $66.90. Occupancy took a slight downtick, dropping from 59.6% in 2000 to 59.1% in 2001. “That sort of set the tone that we could take advantage of what’s happened in the last year,” Fowler told HOTEL BUSINESS®. “We had the worst year in the industry and [AmericInn] is doing well by comparison to everybody else. We can take advantage of that and hopefully really have a good summer and a great year for AmericInn.” Toward that end, the chain expects to leverage some of the strides it’s made since the last convention. Notably, the chain has realized strong numbers since it fully launched its GDS program via Lexington Services, which is now mandatory for all properties. An estimated 2.8 million guests stayed at AmericInns in 2001, more than 59,000 of whom are Inn-Pressive loyalty club members. “More and more inventory is being posted to GDS every day,” said Fowler. “Our total systemwide revenue from GDS reservations was just over $2.5 million last year with an ADR of more than $75, and average revenue per booking of almost $140. Most important, the length of stay was 1.86 nights per reservation.” Fowler said since many AmericInns only signed up last summer to take advantage of GDS and Internet opportunities, he anticipated the revenue from those sources would more than double by next year. “To make that happen we all have to be proactive in selling these systems,” said the CEO, noting the company’s web site received more than 20 million hits in 2001, compared to 6.1 million in 2000. The company also will continue stepping briskly toward its stated benchmark goal of 200 properties. With 172 hotels open representing 9,338 guestrooms, currently there are 23 AmericInns under construction or development, and four existing properties are adding on more than 100 rooms in 2002. With four new-construction prototypes, Jon Kennedy, svp-marketing and franchise development, noted, “One of the hallmarks of our system is that our product can fit in all types of markets, resort destinations to suburban to you name it, we are going to be there.” He added the company “takes great pride that our product and its systemwide consistency will, indeed, be our strongest marketing tool.” As far as marketing goals, Kennedy wants to enhance franchise sales and the chain’s 2% marketing fund. Kennedy crunched drill-downs from AmericInn’s five regional offices for attendees, noting hot spots for development. These include: Southern and Central California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, D.C., Maryland and parts of the Southeast. He added the company will be opening a regional sales office in Connecticut to service the New England states where AmericInn in looking to make greater inroads. He added investment challenges remained, particularly trying to find first mortgage debt capital at loan-to-value ratios and interest rates conducive to achieving targeted equity rates of return. Another challenge, he said, is maintaining profit margins in the face of revenue declines and upward
