A hotel forecast should explain the pattern of demand, not only the annual occupancy target. A market with busy event weekends and quiet weekdays presents a different operating picture from one supported by recurring business travel.
Build a demand calendar
List potential demand generators by location and purpose: business parks, medical facilities, campuses, venues, transport connections and visitor attractions. For each, record what you know, what remains unverified and whether demand is recurring, seasonal or tied to a specific event.
Then map those observations across the week and year. Avoid treating attendance at an event as an equivalent number of hotel guests. Visitors may be local, share rooms, stay elsewhere or travel home the same day. The useful question is how much overnight demand could plausibly reach the proposed property.
Compare hotels that serve a similar trip
A nearby property is not automatically a good comparison. Review location, service level, room configuration, amenities and the type of stay each hotel is designed to serve. An extended-stay property and a full-service event hotel may answer different needs.
Keep public rate observations labeled with their search dates, stay dates and booking conditions. An advertised room rate is an offer, not proof of an achieved average daily rate. Record the limitations of any public information used in the analysis.
Connect the concept to its operating requirements
Amenities that help position a hotel also affect its operating model. A pool, meeting space, breakfast service or laundry operation belongs in both the concept description and the cost assumptions.
EPA's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager Data Explorer provides information drawn from buildings using the benchmarking tool. It can support operating-context research, but it is not a hotel occupancy database or a substitute for property-specific utility estimates.
Prepare a useful starting package
Bring a proposed room count, concept or brand assumptions, site plan, demand-generator list and available comparable information to the study discussion. Mark any brand proposal as preliminary until the relevant parties confirm it.
A demand calendar makes it easier to see where the forecast needs additional evidence and where the concept may need adjustment. Explore hotel feasibility studies to connect those market questions with site suitability and the project's financial assumptions.