"In 2012, there will be very close to zero," Jack Elsner,principal of the Alexandria, VA-based development research company,tells GlobeSt.com. "For anything to open in '12, it would have tobe under construction now, and there really isn't anythingstarting."

The 6,976 new rooms that are expected to be added to Manhattan'sinventory by the end of 2010 are more than the 2008 and 2009 totalscombined. Thirty-three new properties and a total of 5,540 keysopened for business in those two years. "What we're seeing thisyear in terms of openings is from the peak of the cycle," Elsnersays.

When the housing market began its precipitous decline, "thedollar weakened, and although economic conditions in the US weren'tgreat, inbound tourism continued," says Elsner. "So the optimismfor hotel development, particularly in Manhattan, continued to bestrong." The projects opening throughout this year "were well underway in terms of planning and construction in 2007."