No relief in sight for hotels on business travel front

The continuing slump in business travel bodes ill for the final quarter for US hoteliers, offsetting the leisure bookings boost that many hope might last beyond the fall vacation season. STR projects that reservations overall will rise to 1 billion rooms this year from last year’s 829 million, but the American Hotel & Lodging Association estimates a business travel drop of $59 billion compared with 2019.