Hotel Market Opportunity Methodology
The Hotel Market Research Priority organizes where a hotel team may focus its research. It does not predict demand, room nights, revenue, account production, booking probability or market share.
Purpose
The workspace combines verified public information with hotel-entered assumptions. It translates evidence into research directions while keeping the evidence, missing information and limitations visible.
Data sources and refresh schedules
| Source | Use | Cache timing | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| GSA Per Diem | Official fiscal-year lodging and M&IE rates | 24 hours | Open ↗ |
| National Weather Service | Point forecasts and active alerts | Forecast 30 minutes; alerts 5–10 minutes | Open ↗ |
| Census ZIP Business Patterns | Annual establishment, employment and payroll signals | 30 days | Open ↗ |
| OpenFEMA | Federal disaster declarations | 1 hour | Open ↗ |
| 2025 Census Gazetteer | ZCTA representative coordinates | Built into this release | Open ↗ |
ZIP and ZCTA limitations
The Site uses the 2025 U.S. Census Gazetteer ZCTA file. ZCTAs are Census statistical areas and are not always identical to USPS delivery ZIP codes. The coordinate is a representative internal point, not the hotel’s exact location, so weather and geographic results are approximate.
Priority formula
75–100 = Higher research priority; 50–74 = Moderate; 25–49 = Lower; 0–24 = Limited evidence. Missing critical source information produces Insufficient Data rather than a guessed score.
Data-state definitions
- Live
- A fresh successful response from the official source.
- Cached
- A successful stored response that remains within its refresh window.
- Stale
- The last successful stored response shown after its normal refresh window because the source is temporarily unavailable.
- Setup Required
- A server-side connection needs configuration. No sample data is substituted.
- User-entered assumption
- Hotel information supplied locally by the visitor; it is not an external fact.
- Deterministic calculation
- A repeatable rule that produces the same result from the same inputs and source evidence.
Known limitations
Public data does not provide hotel competitor rates, occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, account production, travel frequency or future bookings. Business Pattern data measures local economic concentration, not hotel demand. GSA rate position alone is not a rate recommendation. Weather does not imply revenue impact. FEMA information is for operational awareness and community coordination, never for targeting affected people.
Tools are for educational and planning purposes and do not replace accounting, legal, revenue-management, labor, tax, brand, contract or other professional advice. Verify official information with the original source.