Lodging Conference Kicks Off After Four Month Delay

PHOENIX— After a postponement of four months, the lodging conference kicked off here on Jan. 9 with record attendance of more than 800 attendees from the hospitality industry investment community. With eager anticipation, attendees listened as the conference opened with the Deal Corral in which Dan Abrams of iStar Financial, Michael Medzigian of Lazard Freres Real Estate, Joe McInerney of AH&LA, and Alan Ostroff of Sonesta International tackled a variety of macro factors affecting the financial well being of the industry. The consensus— the events of Sept. 11 sped up a recession in progress, which has suddenly, and more severely, negatively affected business for most. “Indeed, 9/11 made recesionary factors greater,” said Abrams. “Yes, but we’re seeing these effects differ depending on locations,” said Ostroff, who stated drive-to destinations/hotels are reporting strong numbers as of late, while fly-to destinations continue to struggle. The real question, agreed panelists, is when and how business would come back. “We now have an X factor of uncertainty. We all thought we knew this industry pretty well….It is much more volatile…the question is, what kind of risks are people willing to take?” said Medzigian. —Shannon Mc Mullen