The tourism industry appears to be slipping for the first time in recent years, slowed by a potent cocktail of rising airfares and falling economic fortunes. And the slide is likely to intensify this fall as airlines slash their flight schedules.
Downtown Chicago hotel occupancy rates dipped to 65.2 percent during the first five months of this year, from 67.4 percent in the year-earlier period-the first erosion of strength in such a time frame since 2004, according to data from Smith Travel Research.
Nationwide, hotel occupancy dropped to 66.7 percent for those months, down from 68 percent in the year-ago period.
Coming off several strong years, hotels likely will see occupancy rates downtown and nationally drop by 2 percentage points this year, though prices should hold strong, said hotel industry expert Ted Mandigo.
Some observers see a potentially harsher scenario.
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