The tourism industry appears to come across major dificulties for the first time in recent years, writes the Chicago Tribune. Hotels likely will see occupancy rates downtown and nationally drop by 2 percentage points this year, though prices should hold strong.

Some observers see a potentially harsher scenario.

“This is the bow wave, and the rest of the wave will wash over,” said airline industry analyst Robert Mann, president of R.W. Mann & Co. in Port Washington, N.Y. “Most of the effects won’t be felt until after the big schedule cuts this fall.”
With high prices for heating fuel, consumers this winter will face the question “whether to heat, eat or fly,” he said. “It will be heat and eat, not fly. Something’s got to give.”

Get the full story at the Chicago Tribune