Lodging Econometrics president Patrick Ford tells GlobeSt.comthat the hospitality market is "virtually shifting under ourfeet.'' With warnings of danger in securitized sub-prime mortgagesand adjustable rate mortgages beginning in 2006 and exploding in2007, there has been a very long lag for these issues to affect thehospitality industry, he says.

Ironically, this same period was a heyday for the hospitalityindustry nationally, Ford says. The lodging industry postedrecord-breaking occupancy, RevPar and room profit in 2006 and 2007."Lodging at an operational level didn't feel any impact (from theeconomic slowdown) until November, December and early January, whenwe began to see a little bit of impact on demand and occupancies,''Ford says.

"The whole credit crisis emerged at lightening speed, so quicklyand its impact so enormous, we now think it could be a long-termsubject, the (mortgage) credit crisis, since last spring is justnow having an impact on lodging, just in the past eight or 10weeks….I can't look forward and estimate and project what willhappen. Is it a slow down or a recession?'' he says. "That's what'smoving under our feet as we speak,''