How Big Is SMALL?

Lodging Resources Workshops
Reprinted with permission by
Lanier Publishing
Cornell Quarterly, 2000

For most of us the notion that hospitality is the largest single industry worldwide would come as no surprise. We might point to Disney, Trump, Griffin, Wynn, Tish and the mega-room properties each has spawned as evidence that lodging is big business. What is surprising is that among the 51,000 lodging properties in the United States, 65.3% are small businesses having 75 or fewer rooms!

A recent national study produced by Lodging Resources Workshops in association with Lanier Publishing seeks to quantify the impact on the lodging market of an often-overlooked portion of this biggest segment of the domestic lodging industry - Bed and Breakfasts and Country Inns. Using Lanier's database of over 15,000 small properties, a representative sample of 5,650 properties was analyzed. The results indicate that almost 31% of all lodging properties in the United States fall into the Bed and Breakfast, Country Inns or Small Hotel category.

The study results show these small properties account for 154,075 rooms or 4% of the domestic room supply nightly. This translates into nearly 28,000,000 occupied room nights. With an ADR of $122 per night, Bed and Breakfasts, Country Inns and Small Hotels gross nearly $3.5 billion annually. The following information came from the Lodging Resources Workshops/Lanier Publishing 2000 United States Bed and Breakfast/Country Inn Study.

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