Even though institutional investment dollars travel the globe, hotels have not traditionally been the kind of accommodations they seek — at least not in a big way when compared with other property types.

But the hotel business has been making a stronger case for itself. A new report from PKF Consulting, a hospitality industry research firm, says that 2014 makes six consecutive years of increasing hotel room occupancy, the longest such stretch since 1983–1988.

The current overall occupancy rate of 65 percent is the highest ever recorded by Smith Travel Research, a provider of benchmarking information to the hotel industry, and 49 of 55 cities tracked by PKF are above their long-term average occupancy level. And 14 of those 55 markets achieved their highest occupancy levels in the past 25 years.

The forecast for 2015 and beyond is strong as well, with PKF predicting hotel occupancy will stay strong through at least 2017.

In addition to a s