Hotels Hope That Tax Law Will Revive Corporate Meetings
“That was not existent prior to tax reform.”
Still, some hotel industry analysts were not so quick to say
that the corporate tax cuts would result in strong growth in the corporate meeting business.
But some hotel industry experts were skeptical that the tax cuts should get much
credit, given the overall strength of the hotel industry in the United States
TravelClick, which analyzes booking activity at 50,000 hotels, found
that growth in overall bookings grew by 1.3 percent in February and 1.5 percent in March, year over year — meaningful gains, according to that company’s senior industry analyst, John Hach.
“So the impact of the tax legislation in 2018 might not even hit until they budget for 2019.”
Once corporate hotel bookings return in strong numbers, they should have staying power,
since bookings for large meetings are made months, if not years, in advance.
“The corporate and groups market has been sluggish
and hasn’t responded as well to the economic growth,” said Lorraine Sileo, senior vice president for research at Phocuswright, a travel market research firm.
