It's a very strong showing. The good news is a lot of people want to come there.

It's good news for existing hotels, since they benefit from an increase in demand. For the consumer, it's not so great.

It looks like people have been paying attention — rates are stabilizing, occupancies are increasing.

What's noteworthy is the rates did not fall when the demand dropped after 9/11. So hotels are now in a great position to grow the rates moving forward.

I doubt anyone can speak with authority about this number, since even the definition of what constitutes a hotel is unclear when you leave the U.S..

We are seeing the pipeline, or the planning and construction stage for new hotels, at a historic low this year.