New York City to Have Record 90,000 Hotel Rooms by Year End

New York City to Have Record 90,000 Hotel Rooms by Year End
By Kerry Medina

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced that the city will reach a record 90,000 hotel rooms by year’s end, representing a 24 percent increase since 2006. More than 7,000 rooms are in the pipeline that will add to the city’s hotel inventory, with an average 40 percent of new openings taking place in boroughs other than Manhattan, including in Long Island City, Queens.

The increase in hotels reflects an overall upward trend for the city’s $31 billion tourism industry. In September for example, an estimated 323,000 people were employed in the travel and tourism sector, a record for the month.

Last year, New York City welcomed a record 48.8 million visitors who collectively spent $31 billion. The city is on track to reach a record number of visitors this year. Room rates are steadily increasing, and occupancy remained at close to 85 percent, the highest in the nation.

Bloomberg made the announcement at the newly opened Z NYC Hotel in Long Island City, where he was joined by State Sen. Michael Gianaris, NYC & Company CEO George Fertitta and Z NYC owner Henry Zilberman. There are now 17 hotels in Long Island City that are comprised of 1,500 rooms with five more properties and 650 rooms under construction.

Major hotel brands in the neighborhood include the Four Points by Sheraton Long Island City/Queensboro Bridge; Fairfield Inn New York Long Island City/Manhattan View; Country Inn & Suites; Holiday Inn Long Island City -- Manhattan View; and, opening next month, the Wyndham Garden Long Island City.

Independent properties such as the Z NYC, which opened in July, join other LIC hotels such as the Ravel, the Queensboro Hotel and the Verve Hotel, among others. Overall hotel development in the city has been robust in 2011 with new properties recently opened or under construction in all five boroughs.

Approximately 40 new projects are slated to open in the next 30 months, with about 13 properties representing 1,865 rooms in boroughs other than Manhattan (five in Long Island City, three in Queens, one in the Bronx, one in Staten Island and three in Brooklyn). Twenty-two new hotels representing 4,120 rooms are also under construction in Manhattan.