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The Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza has opened its doors at a time when hotel occupancy rates in Manhattan are declining. Hotels in the city are scheduled to open hundreds of new rooms this year. Despite this, Holiday Inn says bookings are surprisingly strong. The industry, too, is optimistic, saying New York will avoid a sharp contraction in its vital hospitality industry.
The average occupancy rate for Manhattan hotels in 1989 was 76%, a 2-point decline from 1988 levels, according to accounting firm Laventhol & Horwath, which specializes in the hotel and leisure-time industry. A rival, Pennell Kerr Forster, puts the rate at just over 73%, down 2 1/2 points from last year.
For the first 11 months of last year, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey reported domestic arrivals at the region's three airports were down 7.9% from the same period in 1988, and international arrivals were up 1.6%.
However, notes Michael Silberstein, managing director of the 770-room Crowne Plaza, which began opening in stages last fall, "We are still talking about a market that is well above the national average. New York is one of the best -- if not the best -- hotel markets in the United States."
Arthur Adler, senior principal of Laventhol & Horwath's Leisure Time Industry Services practice, adds: "You can't assume that it was a tough year for the hotels. New York continues to enjoy occupancy rates much...