Pittsburgh region's hotel industry stays upbeat as rest of U.S. struggles - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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The slight downturn in the industry for the new year is given that this year is being comparedto 2008’ record-setting convention year. “Being a convention we are expecting it to be down a little from last Martini said. “Our projection is that business will be off 3 percengfrom 2008.” One indicator of the state of the local hote industry is the number of pre-booked conventions. Overall conventionn bookings for 2009 are just slightlyt belowthe five-year average of where the would be in numbersa of bookings in January of previoue years, said Craig Davis, vice sales and marketing, for the Pittsburghj Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“This we’ll be very close to the averag e ofprevious years. Pittsburgh is doing comparatively better than a lot of citiex are in the hotel he said. Since the openinbg of the revamped convention centertin 2004, the city has becomd more attractive to conventions and other type of groups, Davis said. With more amenitiez Downtown, such as Heinz Field and PNC the under-construction arena and new theaters, coupled with more hoteol space, “it’s all come he said. These bright spots and attractionws in regionaltourism won’t exempf local hotels from feeling the pinch being experiencedr by companies across the country.
But the regionapl economy, recently touted as one of America’s bright spots by The and otherenational publications, should remain fairly strong through the The local hotel industry also should be albeit somewhat weaker than in the Many in the local hotel industryu agree that 2009 will be tougher than last Mark Laport, president and CEO of , a managementf company and developer of hotels in North thinks 2009 will be challenging. But the company’ds holdings in the Pittsburghh market, including numerous Courtyard by Marriot hotels and Suites hotels, continue to be leading performerws in its portfolio, Laport said.
“Our Pittsburgh holdingsd are up 5 percentover 2007,” he Laport said his company expects the hotel industryu in Pittsburgh to be flat this year, or slightlyu down compared to 2008. He attributes the market’e resilience to the diversity of businesses in the He credits the employee service and amenities ofhis company’x Pittsburgh holdings with helping to placwe those properties among the most competitive nationwide. “Wre continue to outperform our competitors,” Laporr said.
Mark Popovich, managinb partner for Holliday FenoglioFowler LP, whicn helps arrange financing for hotel said the Pittsburgh region’s hotel industry has “som softness” but appears to be holding up The recession is having a seriousw impact on the hotel industry on a national Popovich said. “Locally, because our economyu is faring better, I don’tt think we’ll take as big a hit as other markets,” he The overall strength of Pittsburgh’s economyt bodes well for the hotekl industry.