The hotel industry’s performance during 2016 was solid in most Michigan markets and the year ended on a positive note, reports Charles Skelton of Hospitality Partners in Ann Arbor. The firm has tracked the state’s lodging sector performance for years.
“We are at the point in our cycle where gains in occupancy will be much slower while rate will continue to increase, but at a more reasonable pace,” says Skelton in his firm’s spring/summer newsletter released earlier this month.. “I think 2017 will be a solid year with softening coming in 2018 and 2019. To what degree that softening takes place really depends on what happens nationally.”
Detroit’s renovated Cobo Convention Center is receiving rave reviews, Skelton adds. “Coupled with the sports teams, bars and restaurant activity, and the newly arrived residents, the D is heading into the century reclaiming some of its glory as the 1940s and 1950s when it was truly a world-class city and an engine for the Midwest.”