Security concerns faced by travelers since Sunday, December 21, 2003 when
the Department of Homeland Security raised its threat advisory level to
High Condition (orange), are having a negative effect on U.S. lodging
occupancy, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers analysis.

Current traveler concerns account for a 1 to 1.5 percent drop in U.S.
lodging occupancy for December 21 to December 27.

PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that numerous flight cancellations (more
than 20), flight delays and air traffic prohibitions over cities in the
past 16 days, as well as visible security measures including placement of
armed law enforcement on board planes, F-16 escorts on incoming
international flights, FBI requests for information from hotel operators
and airlines in Las Vegas, new entry procedures for foreign visitors, and
the crash of a flight from Egypt to France have caused a significant rise
in traveler concerns. These traveler concerns account for a 1 to 1.5
percent drop in U.S. lodging occupancy for December 21 to December 27.

“Analysis of daily lodging occupancy since 2001 shows that travelers are
extremely sensitive to real and perceived safety concerns. There have been
11 federally issued terrorist/security alerts since September 2001, six of
which correspond to a statistically significant decline in U.S. lodging
occupancy,” said Bjorn Hanson, Ph.D., global industry leader,
PricewaterhouseCoopers Hospitality & Leisure Practice.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (http://www.pwc.com/) is the world`s largest
professional services organization. Drawing on the knowledge and skills of
more than 125,000 people in 142 countries, we help our clients solve
complex business problems and measurably enhance their ability to build
value, manage risk and improve performance in an Internet-enabled world.

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