Hotel rates may drop by 8.8% this year

NEW YORK (AP) — Hotel room prices are expected to drop a total of 8.8 percent in 2009 compared to 2008 and will continue creeping down in 2010, though at a much slower rate, according to the 2010 lodging forecast from PricewaterhouseCoopers Hospitality & Leisure Practice.

"It is expected that the steepest declines in ADR (average daily rates) have passed but that year-over-year ADR levels will continue to decline, resulting in a 1.8 percent decline" next year, PricewaterhouseCoopers said.

A 3.2 percent increase in the number of hotel rooms this year added to the hotel industry's problems, PricewaterhouseCoopers said, expanding supply just as consumer demand weakened.