HB ON THE SCENE: Cautious Industry Forecasts Emerge At ALIS

LOS ANGELES— This year’s Americas Lodging Investment Summit, which kicked off yesterday at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza here, has been the most successful to date, at least in terms of attendance, with approximately 2,500 executives on hand for the event. However, while the mood at the summit is decidedly optimistic, as reflected by this year’s Surf’s Up theme, there were dissenting opinions regarding the future performance of the hotel industry. For example, during yesterday’s hot seat session, Starwood Capital CEO Barry Sternlicht said that he is “troubled by year-over-year declines in occupancy.” Earlier, Randall Smith, president of Smith Travel Research, said that occupancy only grew 0.6% in 2006 and it would decline slightly in 2007. He added that in three of the last six months, overall demand has declined and “we expect to see more of that in 2007.”