When Bjorn Hanson last year published his preliminary outlook for 2016 corporate negotiated hotel rates, the New York University professor predicted buyers might suffer their biggest increases in years. It didn't happen.
The aggressive prognostication followed several years in which hotels outperformed expectations on rates.
Entering 2016, Hanson said last month, "There was a sense that the increase in rates would be greater than it had been because the sell side's attitude was, 'You buy-side guys got a better deal than you deserved . . .