HVS has announced the publication of two reports that document hotel transactions in the first two quarters of 2008.

HVS is a leading hospitality consulting and appraisal firm that focuses on the hotel, restaurant, shared ownership, gaming and leisure industries.

The reports detail sales of more than $10 million and those between $3 and $9.99 million.

“Hotel sales in both price categories were down significantly from sales occurring in the same period of 2007,” said Amy Beam, HVS Director of Hotel Transactions. “The information we have culled from our databases for this report will help hotel buyers, sellers, lenders, and owners evaluate their stake in the industry as of mid-year 2008 and inform strategies going forward.”

Both reports are available for purchase online here.

In the first half of 2008, WORLDHOTELS continued to grow its list of properties, adding 28 new ones to its already large portfolio of more than 500 hotels.

The new hotels, which meet the WORLDHOTELS high quality standards, are located around the world. 13 are located in EMEA, 4 in the Americas and 11 in Asia-Pacific.

“We are currently focusing on WORLDHOTELS’ expansion within the MICE and premium market segments. We are also striving towards further growth for our global portfolio until year end. This will include introducing new openings in destinations not yet covered by WORLDHOTELS,” said Ingo Guerges, Senior Director Business Development & Relations at WORLDHOTELS.

WORLDHOTELS is the largest Europe based global hotel group of independent hotels and regional brands. The company focuses on properties with high quality and that offer a unique character or architectural distinction.

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The EU Online Travel Market rose to over $50 Billion this year.

A recently published EyeforTravel Research Report showed steady growth over the past 5 years completely accounted for by the growth in online channels in the hotel industry.

While offline bookings and sales remained the same, neither dipping nor rising, the online markets have grown at 41% CAGR from 2002-2007 period.

A fifth of all sales are now executed online.

As internet access becomes widespread across Europe, this trend will mostly likely only continue to gain momentum.

View full report.

Even with the exchange rate in favor of foreign currencies, the United States has still failed to attract foreign visitors.

Foreign media has certianly been no help, with headlines in major London newspapers running stories titled, “America – more hassle than it’s worth?” These pieces have spread the view of the US as a place that is not easy to visit, and in the end, not worth it.

Since 2000 international travel has jumped by more than 35 million persons since 2000, but little of that increase has made it to the states. It has, in fact, gone in the opposite direction — with 2 million fewer visitors coming to the USA. Some estimate that lost business as costing the hotel industry somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 billion.

Read the source article.