Skift Take
Travel sticker shock is giving way to anger for many consumers. But the inflation data suggests that most hoteliers have raised prices in-line with their rising costs rather than capturing excess profits.
Summer travel season is in full swing and we can already hear the complaints: "It's outrageous what they're charging for a hotel room these days!" The narrative goes that greedy hoteliers are taking advantage of pent-up vacation demand to gouge desperate travelers. But this is a myth and far from the reality of the hotel business today.
It's true, the average hotel room in America went for $150 a night in May, a 13 percent hike from 2019. But that gain doesn't account for inflatio