The Real Deal New York

From the April issue: New York City’s hotel sector, already struggling with lower occupancy rates and prices, has a new challenge: corporate buyers seeking to renegotiate previously set bulk contracts. Prices for blocks of rooms that were locked in late last year at discounted corporate rates are now being shifted again — downward. Hoteliers are loath to discuss the disquieting new trend, which is taking place all over the country. In a February survey by the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, 61 percent of respondents said they had approached their suppliers for midcontract rate reductions. Of that group, 81 percent focused on hotels, including many in New York, which along with Hawaii has the most expensive rooms and meeting facilities in the U.S.