Bed and Breakfast Inns
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 2,600 bed and breakfast inns (BNBs) in the US with employees provide short-term lodging, often in private homes or small buildings. As the industry’s name suggests, breakfast is included in the room rate. A large number of BNBs have no employees and about 95% are run by owners as a second career. The number of rooms a typical BNB has ranges from four to eleven, with an average of six guest rooms.
Sensitivity to Economic Conditions
Economic downturns and the corresponding decline in travel affect all types of lodging establishments, including BNBs.
Seasonality of Demand
Many BNBs are located in vacation destinations that experience peaks and valleys in tourist traffic.
Industry size & Structure
The typical bed and breakfast (BNB) operates out of a single location, employs fewer than 10 workers, and generates about $885,000 annually.
- The actual number of BNBs in the US varies depending on the source. According to US government sources, the BNB industry consists of about 2,600 firms that employ about 13,800 workers and generate about $2.3 billion annually. However, the Association of Lodging Professionals (ALP), estimates 17,000 BNBs in the US with an estimated worth of $3.4 billion. In some states, BNBs under a certain number of rooms do not require licenses. In addition, BNBs that are completely run by the owner (no employees) are not included in the Census count.
- The BNB industry is extremely fragmented; the top 50 companies account for about 15% of industry revenue.
- The BNB industry consists almost exclusively of single establishment firms.
- According to the ALP, 79% of US BNB owners live on the premises.
Industry Forecast
Bed and Breakfast Inns Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Dec 5, 2024 - Wages Rise Amid Sinking Employment
- Producer prices for travel accommodation firms, which includes bed and breakfasts, rose 2.4% in September compared to a year ago after rising 4.5% in the previous September-versus-September annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Meanwhile, employment by bed and breakfast inns sank 12.6% year over year in September, its lowest level for the month since the pandemic, BLS data show. Average wages at travel accommodation firms rose 2.1% over the same period to $20.90 per hour. Rising consumer expenditures – up 2.9% YoY in August – are supporting rising prices and wages for lodging providers.
- Data from the US Census Bureau’s latest Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) shows that while large businesses have been leading in AI adoption, very small businesses also had relatively high AI use rates during much of 2023 and 2024. The smallest size class (businesses with 1-4 employees) was found to have the second-highest AI use rate (after business with 250 or more workers) rising from 4.6% to 5.8%. Generative AI can be a useful tool in narrowing the technology and performance gap between small and large firms. For example, generative AI can enable small firms like bed and breakfast inns tackle tasks that otherwise require additional expertise or outsourcing, which can be prohibitively expensive for small businesses. Tasks such as marketing, designing websites, creating images and videos, gaining customer insight, and interacting with customers can all be performed with the help of generative AI.
- With the peak summer travel season behind us, leisure travel demand is expected to soften this fall. In recent earnings calls, hotel and travel company executives have cited lethargic domestic leisure demand from US consumers, The Wall Street Journal reports. The slowdown coincides with record-high room rates in many markets. According to August year-to-date data from CoStar Group, 20% of the reporting hotels in the top 25 US markets charged an average daily rate of at least $200, up from 13% in 2019. Price-sensitive consumers who aren’t staying home say they’re trading down to cheaper accommodations, which may favor competitively priced bed and breakfast inns. Consumers started to trade down from pricier hotels and go with cheaper options this June, according to a Morning Consult Economic Intelligence index that tracked consumer spending on hotels. High hotel room rates also affect the length of stay.
- The US’s widening wealth gap is expected to be especially evident during this summer travel season, The New York Times reported in July. Wealthier households are more optimistic about their ability to take trips, and the services they are more likely to use — like full-service hotels — are flourishing. Budget hotel chains, by comparison, are expected to report a pullback, NYT reports. “If you go to upscale, you’re actually seeing growth there,” Adam Sacks, president of tourism economics at Oxford Economics, told NYT, adding, “A lot of that has to do with the different financial situations of different income groups.” Full-service hotels are expected to hike room rates by 2.1% this year, while midscale room rates remain flat and rates at economy hotels decline as low-income earners retrench, according to a forecast by hospitality analytics firm CoStar Group.
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