Survey ranks Orlando market high in key categories

Orlando's hot hotel market was at or near the top nationwide in a number of key growth categories in 2004 -- and it might do even better in 2005, a representative of one of the nation's leading industry research firms said Friday.

The Orlando area's average hotel occupancy rate last year, for example, was the fifth best in the country at 70.7 percent, well above the national average of 63.1 percent, said Brian Ferguson, vice president for marketing and strategy with Smith Travel Research, based near Nashville, Tenn.

The rate of growth in Orlando's average occupancy was a sizzling 12.8 percent for the year, leading the country by a wide margin. "It's a great number," Ferguson said during the monthly meeting of the Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association.

In terms of room rates, Orlando was in the middle of the pack among the top 25 markets, averaging $87.78 for the year. That was only slightly higher than the national average. But Orlando's 2004 vs. 2003 rate of growth in the category -- 3.8 percent -- was good enough to crack the national top 10.

Orlando should do even better at boosting room rates in the coming year, he said.

"You should see rates go up more," Ferguson said, because of the lag in group-travel price increases. Orlando has more group travel than many markets, he said, and groups have longer-term contracts that take time to reflect price hikes.

The company does not make specific forecasts for regions, he said, but revenue-per-available room, a key measure of industry health, should rise another 7.1 percent nationwide in 2005, after posting a healthy 7.8 percent increase in 2004.