Consultant/advocate John Keeling, who’s never seen a boondoggle that didn’t merit a glowing feasibility study (so long as clients were paying), makes an appearance in a recent Nancy Sarnoff report for the Chronicle:
Occupancy at area hotels is slipping, as the nation’s economic troubles have resulted in weaker demand for business travel around the country and in Houston.
Areawide, occupancy is expected to dip about 1 percentage point by the year’s end to 66.5 percent, hotel consultant John Keeling said at a meeting Thursday of the Hotel & Lodging Association of Greater Houston.
“It’s reflective of what’s going on in the rest of the country,” said Keeling, senior vice president of PKF Consulting in Houston. “Because we’re better diversified, we’re affected by it.”
Last year, PKF predicted Houston-area hotel occupancy would reach 70 percent in 2008.
Instead of always quoting John Keeling’s latest prediction that some project will make millions, local media might consider following Sarnoff’s lead here (or Tom Kirkendall’s lead here, or Cory Crow’s lead here and here) and looking back from time to time on Keeling’s predictions.
Of course, Sarnoff concludes by citing Keeling on Houston’s need for more hotels. Some habits die hard.
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