The data was collected from more than 36,150 hotels worldwide, equivalent to 4.93 million rooms. While the Africa/Middle East region led both indicators, European hotels reported a drop in occupancy from 1.3% to 65.1%, as did the Asia-Pacific region, with 3.9% lower occupancy, at 66.7%, and the Americas, with 3.9% lower occupancy, by 66.7%.
Mark Lomanno, Chairman of STR and Director of the Board of Directors of STR Global, observed that "demand and occupancy growth is weak in most parts of the world"; According to him: "The weakness of the US economy seems to be affecting a large number of countries," showing the close relationship between the US economy and the global economy, he added. Other factors against it are the increases in fuel and food costs. James Chappell, chief operating officer of STR Global, said: "While the global hotel industry is experiencing some problems due in large part to circumstances beyond its control, it has demonstrated admirable discipline in maintaining its rates in some turbulent times, and attributed the drop in occupancy to "the cyclical nature of the business".
