AH&LA Lodging Industry Profile Charts Hotel Profits, Sales, International Arrivals

Industry’s Six-Year Profitability Streak Comes to an End




For 2009, the U.S. lodging industry posted pre-tax profits of $16 billion – down from $25.8 billion in 2008 – and $127.2 billion in sales – down from $140.6 billion in 2008, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) Lodging Industry Profile (LIP), an annual statistical analysis of the industry. This $127.2 billion contributed to an overall $704 billion in tourism sales*, with resident and international travelers’ expenditures in the U.S. estimated at $1.9 billion/day; $80 million/hour; $1.3 million/minute; and $22,300/second.


The percentage of international travelers to the U.S. decreased from a record 58 million in 2008, to 54.9 in 2009; arrivals from overseas travelers declined 6 percent to total 23.8 million. The top 10 countries in terms of U.S. arrivals for 2009 were Canada (18 million), Mexico (13.2 million) the United Kingdom (3.9 million), Japan (2.9 million), Germany (1.7 million), France (1.2 million), Brazil (893,000), Italy (753,000) South Korea (744,000), and Australia (724,000). These 10 countries accounted for 80 percent of U.S. international visitors.
“With the softening of the economy in Q4 of 2008 and into 2009, our industry saw an end to our six-year streak of increased profitability,” said AH&LA President/CEO Joe McInerney. “The industry suffered a one-two punch between the fallout from the 2007credit crisis and the Lehman Bros collapse in September 2008, with financing for hotel construction and renovation going by the wayside. After two years of streamlining budgets, cutting staffs, and revising service protocols, the industry is lean and ready for recovery and 2010 is being billed a transition year.”
Other facts found in the LIP:

•A detailed breakdown of the 50,800 U.S. hotels by room number, size, location, and nightly rate;

•The travel and tourism industry pays $186 billion in travel-related wages and salaries and employs 1.7 million hotel property workers;
•Profiles of the typical lodging consumer’s leisure stay (60 percent of all travelers’ stays; categorized by two adults ages 35-54, who spend an average of one night paying a rate of $105) vs. a typical business travelers stay (40 percent of all travelers’ stays; most likely to be spent by a sole male age 35-54, for three or more nights at a rate of $123).

AH&LA’s LIP provides a comprehensive, easy-to-read list of these and other significant facts about the lodging, travel, and tourism industries, including employment impact; international travel statistics; and property and room breakdowns by location, rate, and size. The complete 2010 AH&LA Lodging Industry Profile is available on AH&LA’s Information Center Webpage.

Information contained in the LIP is based on 2009 data provided by D.K. Shifflet & Associates, Ltd.; STR; U.S. Travel Association; U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, Office of Travel and Tourism Industries, Bureau of Economic Analysis; and Statistics Canada. Figures for year-end 2010 will be available in fall 2011.