Economic Forecast | Lee-Collier

Hotel management/
travel and tourism
Fred Hirschovits
Founder and CEO | Twenty/Twenty Worldwide Hospitality, Naples

Company: Hirschovits will likely add a few properties to his hospitality management and consulting firm's portfolio in 2017. He closed out 2016 discussing potential management opportunities and new-build possibilities in Florida and North Carolina.

He predicts nominal growth for his Naples-based firm, based on the stability of the Research Triangle market where he manages North Carolina hotels and the improved hotel sector in Southwest Florida after several tough post-recession years. “I think 2017 is going to be very minor growth,” he says. “Some places are going to see that in occupancy, and for some places it might be in the average daily room rate.”

Industry: Hirschovits has seen rental services like Airbnb creeping into the smaller markets he works in and expects that to continue, putting more pressure on hoteliers to fill rooms. He saw that in the Naples area last March, when high airline passenger numbers in the region didn't translate to more hotel rooms sold. “Occupancy didn't go up, but private rentals in Naples went crazy,” he says.