Report: R.I. benefiting from Boston travel and tourism spillover

RHODE ISLAND ranked first in the country in RevPAR, revenue per available room, for the year to date through July of 2015, with an increase of 15 percent, to $87.64 from $76.14, according to Smith Travel Research. / COURTESY SMITH TRAVEL RESEARCH
RHODE ISLAND ranked first in the country in RevPAR, revenue per available room, for the year to date through July of 2015, with an increase of 15 percent, to $87.64 from $76.14, according to Smith Travel Research. / COURTESY SMITH TRAVEL RESEARCH

PROVIDENCE – Booming travel and tourism in Boston has spilled over into the lodging industry in Rhode Island this past year, and is part of the reason a consultant is “bullish” on the market here.
Rachel Roginsky, principal of the Pinnacle Advisory Group told a roomful of Rhode Island restaurant and lodging industry insiders at the R.I. Convention Center Wednesday morning that key metrics for the lodging industry here are up statewide and in Providence, Warwick and Newport.
The R.I. Hospitality Association hosted the 12th Annual Economic Outlook breakfast. Pinnacle’s data comes from Smith Travel Research.
“When the Boston market does well, it eventually makes its way down here,” Roginsky said.
The trend parallels a steady national trend in improved occupancy, average daily rate and RevPAR, or revenue per available room, she said. In the New England market, Massachusetts ranked highest in these areas, but Rhode Island also did well, ranking second in occupancy and third in average daily rate and RevPAR.
Rhode Island ranked first in the country, however, in RevPAR for the year to date through July of 2015, with an increase of 15 percent, to $87.64 from $76.14.
“The U.S. is only up 7.4 percent, so [Rhode Island’s data] is almost double,” Roginsky said.
Roginsky also cited favorable influences like the overall national economy and declining gasoline prices.
After the presentation, Hospitality Association President Dale Venturini noted marketing plays, and will continue to play, a role, while Evan Smith, president and CEO of Discover Newport, credited the private sector – hotels, attractions and restaurants with increases.
“Everybody works hard to promote our state for visitation,” he said, “It’s a collective effort.”
Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the research and knowledge group for the National Restaurant Association, said growth remains moderate in the restaurant industry nationwide, but that technology integration, particularly marketing locations and menus on mobile devices, will continue to affect restaurants, positively impacting those who market themselves effectively there.
While people are using almost double the disposable income to eat out that they spent in 1955, Riehle said challenges to a robust industry remain. Consumer confidence in the New England region is only 97.7 percent, compared with well above 100 percent in the West North Central and Mountain states, he said.
In Rhode Island, restaurant sales growth for 2015 is projected at 2.3 percent, more or less in line with its New England neighbors, but lower compared with other parts of the country, he said. Florida has the highest projection at 4.9 percent.
And while real disposable income is expected to increase modestly from 2.7 percent in 2015 to 3.2 percent in 2016, population growth is flat and total employment could increase from 1.3 percent to 1.8 percent, he said.
“Our consumers still need that nudge [to spend],” he said.

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3 COMMENTS

  1. ? so they don’t think Rhode Island stands on its own. The Providence-Warwick market has added nearly 3500 rooms in ten years and they think it is because of Boston spillover that they are now being filled? Boston does not have to do well for Providence to do well and that has been shown in the last 10 years. Maybe they are confusing all those travelers who now fly into Boston rather than Providence but their final destination is actually Rhode Island.

  2. This article is full of a frame of reference that is 1) inaccurate, 2) harmful to Providence, and 3) an example of the flawed approach taken by state leaders.

    First-
    R.I. benefiting from Boston travel and tourism spillover and “Booming travel and tourism in Boston has spilled over into the lodging industry in Rhode Island”
    Boston is a city, Rhode Island is a state!! Why are they compared?
    The reference point should be Boston and PROVIDENCE

    Second – “…statewide and in the metropolitan areas of Providence, Warwick and Newport.”
    There is no Warwick or Newport metropolitan areas – they are suburbs OF Providence.

    It is the PROVIDENCE METROPOLITAN AREA, which by the way, runs from Westerly to new Bedford – a 1.6M pop. metro.

    Third – Until Rhode Island leaders understand that the best frame of reference is the PROVIDENCE METROPOLITAN AREA – not “Rhode Island”, the same old “little/small” mentality will limit growth.