Both present and future components of the LESI indicate that lodging activity is expanding: the executives' sentiment about current business conditions advanced the
Indicator to this high reading in August. The Present Situation Index reads at 90.5, a slight dip from July�s 97.2 reading that reflects current lodging industry business activity, but the future Index jumped significantly to 73.8 versus 55.3 reported in July. 

When the executives were asked what they expected for rooms reservations/bookings over the next 12 months compared to the last 12 months, the difference was essentially flat-- 81.0 Index reading in August versus 81.6 in July. However, the distance from the base line of 50 suggests robust expansion for lodging business activity for the future.

Eighty one (81) percent of the lodging executives rated the current business as �good,� while fifty-two (52) percent expect the business activity to be about the same in the next twelve months. �The lodging business scene is one of high performance at present with only a modest slowdown over the next twelve months when we look at both future sentiment and reservations forecasts," said Evangelos O. Simos, Chief Economist and advisor to LodgingForecast.com and Professor at the University of New Hampshire. 

The LESI, created by researchers at LodgingForecast.com, tracks on a month-to-month basis a 12-month outlook for the lodging industry. The LESI is a nationwide poll of lodging industry executives in operations, finance and development, and marketing who represent a sum total of 1.5 million hotel rooms in all segments of the lodging industry.