Institutional investing in the hotel sector is not exactly creating a bonfire. As NCREIF reported, hotel was “once again” the laggard in the NCREIF Property Index during the first quarter of this year, with a total return of 1.15 percent, including depreciation of –0.28 percent.

That is a bit perplexing with worldwide tourism statistics moving in a seemingly never-ending growth pattern. International travel alone has doubled since 1995 to about 1 billion people.

Perhaps the sector will finally experience resurgence among institutional investors, if the April gathering of the Hotel Equities and Lender Perspectives conference is an accurate barometer. The meeting attracted senior executives from the likes of Starwood Capital, Cerberus Capital and Rockwood Capital, who indicated the