OREANDA-NEWS.  Fitch Ratings attended the 2015 American Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) in Los Angeles the week of January 25th and left with greater conviction in its outlook for strong U.S. lodging fundamentals in the near-to-intermediate term.

Occupancies are at, or above, all-time highs in most markets; room rate growth is accelerating; and supply remains subdued. Lower oil prices should be a positive for the industry, notwithstanding the negative impact that some shale oil producing markets may face.

The strong dollar's negative impact on international visitation, competitive acquisition pricing and the longer-term impact from accelerating supply growth are concerns. Minimum wage increases, sometimes specifically targeted at the hotel industry, also bear watching. Lastly, hotel loan underwriting standards continue to slip, with more interest only loans and reduced structural protections common, notwithstanding some residual weakness in the most senior tranches of floating rate hotel CMBS deals.

In '2015 American Lodging Investment Summit Takeaways' Fitch discusses key takeaways from Fitch's meetings with various industry constituents, as well as the conference panels the agency attended.