The hospitality sector had a banner year in 2018. Travel research firm STR reported that U.S. hotel revenues reached $218 billion, an all-time high, up $10 billion from 2017. House profit – despite increasing labor costs – also topped records at $80 billion. Occupancy and revenue per available room, or RevPAR, have grown each year over the last decade. In its Hospitality North American Investment Forecast for this year, Marcus & Millichap predicted a 66.5 percent occupancy rate – an increase of 0.3 percent over 2018 and a 30-year record high. But exciting numbers like these are tempered with a matching underlying concern: How long can this last? And what challenges might be ahead? Several factors have contributed to high occupancy rates. Skyler Cooper, national director of Marcus & Millichap’s National Hospitality Group, points to the extended period of U.S. job growth, combined with higher earnings and consumer confidence – all of which support increased spending on both leisure and business travel. Click to read more at www.ccim.com.