Hotel Investment Plummets 60 Percent Worldwide in First Quarter

Global hotel investment, which hit a record high in 2007, dropped more than 60 percent in the first quarter of 2008 as credit markets tightened, according to the latest numbers from Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.

Acquisitions fell to about $8 billion in the first three months of this year, down from more than $20 billion in the same period of 2007, according to the global real estate firm.

Investment volume will be down significantly for the rest of the year. Last year, the industry saw a record high of $110 billion in hotel investment, up 52 percent from the year before.