Smith TravelResearch (STR), the recognized leader in hotel benchmarking, today increased its 2005 RevPAR growth projection for the total US from 7.6% up to 8.2%. 'Despite the obvious attrition from displaced business, the increase in Katrina related emergency travel combined with the relocated meetings demand to other cities will have a meaningful impact on occupancies,' stated Randy Smith, CEO and founder of STR.

Added Mark Lomanno, president of STR: 'Some of our client hotels, despite being closed to the public, house FEMA workers, evacuees and clean-up crews and keep reporting revenues and occupancies to us. We conservatively estimate occupancies in hotels that were not closed due to this disaster to be substantially above average for the rest of the year. Nationally, the decrease in room supply due to Katrina's impact coupled with the already strong overall hotel demand allows us to revise our 2005 year-end estimates upward.'

All chain affiliated properties and most large independent hotels are STR clients and regular users of the STAR report. This unmatched access to hotel owners and operators allows STR to measure the impact of the hurricane on the local hotel industry with a high level of confidence. Chains and independent operators are in constant contact with STR to update their room availability and report room demand.

In addition, STR proactively contacts hotels in the affected area to verify their status. Based on the information gathered from clients and by independent verification STR approximates that the closing of affected properties decreases national room supply by 0.3% for the remainder of 2005. At the same time, the increase in lodging demand is estimated at 0.1% with a slight, 0.2%, increase in ADR. The combination of these adjusted supply and demand numbers will impact 2005 US RevPAR growth by 0.6%.

The revised STR projections are as follows:

Total US Absolute Figures Year-End 2005

If you have any questions about the number of hotels closed for business or destroyed by hurricane Katrina please contact Bobby Bowers, SVP; Brad Garner, director, or Jan D. Freitag, director at 615-824-8664.

About SMITH TRAVEL RESEARCH (STR): STR is the recognized leader in US Lodging Industry benchmarking. For 20 years STR has collected monthly and daily operating data and reported on the state of the Lodging industry. Currently over 23,000 hotels participate in the Monthly STAR program. If you wish to learn more about The HOST Data Service, Historical TRENDS, the STAR program or other STR Services please call (615) 824- 8664 or visit our web site: .

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