The city is on track to hit 90,000 hotel rooms by the end of the year, thanks to a barrage of new construction ongoing between West 36th Street and West 54th Street, DNAinfo reported. And even as the pace of new development shows no sign of slowing — an additional 7,000 rooms are in the planning stages — industry experts are insisting that the city’s tourism industry can support a surge in inventory.

“Overbuilding has always been a negative in this industry,” said Joseph Spinnato, president and CEO of the Hotel Association of New York. “When is the glass truly full? I don’t know. But right now… there are markets that haven’t fully been tapped.”

Industry insiders point to New York’s high occupancy rates, the highest in the nation at 85 percent, as proof of sustained growth within the tourism sector. [more]

Tourists may soon have to pay a little extra to stay in New York City hotels as the city is considering a hike in hotel taxes by 5.8 or 6 percent in order to raise $30 million for cultural institutions, fire companies and teacher jobs in the next fiscal year ending June 2012, according to the New York Daily News. That means a tiny increase to a hotel guest’s overnight bill– about a 60-cent hike on $300-per-night room.

“That’s nary a penny,” said Lew Fidler, a Brooklyn Councilman and avid supporter of the tax proposal. “Not a penny of this would come out of the pocket of New Yorkers,” he continued. [more]

The long-delayed renovation plans for the 23-year-old Jacob K. Javits
Convention Center received final approval yesterday from the Public
Authorities Control Board in Albany for construction to begin on the
$463 million project. Plans for the original project were shelved
during the Spitzer administration when original calculations put the
price at over $3 billion. Hotel Association of New York member hotels
added a $1.50 nightly surcharge to all guest bills to raise an
additional $150 million for the renovations, which are expected to
create 9,000 jobs. Some improvements to the center will include repairs
to the leaky roof and a 100,000-square-foot expansion, which will be
used for more exhibition and food service areas. The expansion will be
built on the block bounded by 39th and 40th streets and 11th and 12th
avenues. [more]