According to Sarah Duignan, account director of STR Global, South America is the region best positioned for hotel growth during 2011, recovering from several factors that previously affected it such as swine flu and some earthquakes.
South America and Asia/Pacific are the only two regions that are poised or have exceeded previous levels of demand. Asia/Pacific is just $3.50 away from its 2008 peak in RevPAR (revenue per available room).
"Demand is going down, but (the average daily rate) is trending upward. There are pockets of ADR growth," Duignan said.
In the Middle East/Africa region, North Africa is driving declines in demand. "How is this phenomenon affecting the entire region?" said Duignan. However, hoteliers decided to keep ADR because they knew the discount would not affect demand, he said.
