WASHINGTON (November 19, 2015) - “The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) today released a new Lodging Industry Trends report that underscores the industry's steady pace of job creation, community development and increased tourism and travel across the United States. The latest figures show the hotel industry added more than 30,000 new hotel jobs and more than 100,000 new travel-related jobs, marking a record fifth year of consecutive job creation. Further, salaries are up six percent.

AH&LA also released a state-by-state breakdown of the lodging industry in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, outlining how the industry creates growth and contributes to each state's economic activity.

"This data confirms what we've known for so long: the hotel industry is stronger than ever, providing jobs, and making communities stronger" said AH&LA president and CEO Katherine Lugar. "This industry has seen five years of consecutive job creation with a direct path to upward mobility. We are creating good-paying jobs with benefits and rising salaries. Our story is about evolving the guest experience to anticipate new technologies and guest needs that boost travel and tourism promotion.

"At a time when cities and states are hard pressed for additional revenue to fund needed programs, our industry has also increased its sales tax revenue to $176 billion, which has been instrumental in revitalizing and developing communities and attracting new businesses and travelers. Yet, some new market players and online travel companies operating in the lodging sector neglect their full tax obligations and fail to remit all occupancy and sales taxes. As we've shown over and over, our industry is able to flourish within the boundaries of the law.

"Indeed, it remains an exciting time for the hotel industry as we see the pace of dynamic growth trending up each year at both the state and national level. With all areas of the industry performing at or near peak levels, our future outlook is strong and we expect that to continue well into 2016."

Lodging Industry Trends Key Takeaways:

• Lodging revenue sales grew from $163 billion to $176 billion
• Travel-related wages and salaries increased by over $12 billion, up six percent
• Leisure and business travelers are spending more on average: $660.3 billion and $280.2 billion, respectively
• Business traveler spending rose by 3 percent; Leisure traveler spending rose by nearly 6 percent
• Total number of properties grew from some 52,000 properties to 53,432 properties
• Total number of hotel rooms grew from approximately 4.8 million rooms to 4,978,705 rooms