COLUMBUS, OH—The hospitality industry is approaching heights notseen in decades and scores of investors are ready to kick in bigmoney. The private equity firm Rockbridge has justclosed its Rockbridge Hospitality Fund VI L.P.after raising $438 million, for example, far exceeding its originalfund target of $350 million.

As reported in GlobeSt.com, PwC issued a report on Monday that predicts theindustry's occupancy level will reach 64.9% in 2015, the highestsince 1984. But Jim Merkel, Rockbridge presidentand chief executive officer, tells GlobeSt.com that even though thehistoric downturn has ended, “there are a lot of hotels that needsignificant infusions of capital.” During the recession many ownersfailed to make needed reinvestments in their properties, and thisopens up opportunities for firms like the Columbus-basedRockbridge, which has invested in and added value to hundreds ofhotels over the last 20 years.

The fundamentals in the industry are “as strong as they've everbeen,” he adds. But the historically low growth of new supply hasgiven investors even more confidence in hotels and Rockbridgeexpects to find solid yields in markets throughout the US,including smaller secondary markets.