"Atlanta is currently experiencing more hotel development than any other market in the nation. However, the demand for lodging accommodation is growing at a pace more than double the national average and above the long- term average for visitor growth to the city," says Mr. R. Mark Woodworth, Executive Vice President of the Atlanta office of PKF Consulting. "For the average hotel owner and operator in Atlanta, it is a struggle to maintain occupancy. Fortunately, the strong growth of Atlanta as a corporate, leisure, and convention destination continues to attract a growing number of business people, tourists and conventioneers. This sustains the strong economic impact that the hospitality industry has on the local economy." 

For each of the past 20 years, PKF Consulting has prepared the Atlanta Hotel General Manager's Survey on behalf of the Atlanta Convention Visitors Bureau. The survey reports on the performance of the 13 county Atlanta metropolitan lodging market based on the compilation of data representing 449 hotels representing 66,906 rooms. Data was collected by PKF Consulting from individual properties, and augmented with information from Smith Travel Research, the Atlanta Regional Commission, and Woods Poole Economics. 

"What this report shows is the important role the Atlanta market plays in the nation's hospitality industry," says Spurgeon Richardson, President of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. "I realize that all the new hotels make it more competitive for Atlanta's hotel managers; however, the significant amount of investment in our market is indicative of the attraction and confidence developers have in our visitor industry." 
 
 

As has happened historically, the Atlanta lodging market has served as a testing ground for new types of hotel products. The same has occurred recently with the proliferation of moderate priced extended-stay properties. Not only has Atlanta seen more development of this new breed of hotel than any other market in the nation, but several of the companies building and franchising hotels in this niche are headquartered in Atlanta. 

"Early indications are that these new moderate-priced extended-stay hotels perform differently than their higher-priced predecessors," says Woodworth. "It is probably too early to measure the depth of price-sensitive, extended- stay travelers and resulting market performance of this new segment of the lodging industry. However, our financial data shows a number of distinctly different operating characteristics between the profitability levels of moderately priced and upper-end extended-stay properties." 

The 90-page 1998 edition of Atlanta General Manager's Survey breaks the metropolitan area into 18 sub-markets. For each sub-market, the report presents an eight-year growth trend for occupancy, average daily rate, REVPAR, supply, and demand. In addition, the report contains a comprehensive listing of all new hotel developments that are either proposed or under construction. Copies of the full report are available by calling Ms. June Hagstrom of PKF Consulting at 404-842-1150. The cost is $200. 

PKF Consulting is an international consulting and real estate firm specializing in the hospitality industry. The firm is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Houston, Los Angeles, Washington, DC., and Singapore.