The U.S. Commerce Department released its first estimate of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Q4 2015 and it shows expansion slowing down to an annualized 0.7 percent, which is down sharply from the 2 percent growth of the prior quarter. This reflects how much the U.S. GDP is being impacted by the slowdown in global growth, with U.S. businesses hustling to reduce their inventory stockpiles while the strong dollar and tepid global demand drag down exports. All told, current estimates show that the economy grew 2.4 percent in 2015, which matches the pace from 2014. The bright side of the economic picture continues to be consumers, with unemployment numbers low, wages increasing, and cheap oil providing plenty of disposable income. This bodes well for hotels, with STR’s latest report projecting RevPAR to grow 5 percent in 2016, and supply growth still below the long-term average. But these numbers also show how much hotel owners and operators need to take advantage of the coming months to prepare for a potential growth slowdown in the years ahead. Read more here.
