U.S. hotels beginning to rebound from recession with report of profits

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Following two years of declining profits, the average U.S. hotel reported a 9.8% increase in profits in 2010, according to a study released Tuesday.

Though the report by Atlanta-based PKF Hospitality Research suggests the hotel industry has begun to rebound from the recession, the findings note that the gains do not make up for the nearly 40% decline in profits by U.S. hotels in 2008 and 2009.

The study, based on a survey of financial statements from thousands of hotels, found that higher-priced hotels with average daily rates of at least $200 enjoyed gains in profits of up to 33% while hotels with daily rates of less than $100 saw only a slight 0.3% increase in profits in 2010.

Last year, total operating expenses grew by 3.4%, but the average occupancy rate increased by 6.2% to 67.7%, revenues from rooms jumped 5.3%, and revenue from food and beverage sales rose by 5.6%.

-- Hugo Martin