Problem
Yang, Pan and Song (2014) use web traffic data for the website of the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau to forecast hotel demand in Charleston, South Carolina.
a) What are some of the leading indicators for the hotel demand? Briefly describe the data and methodology employed by the authors.
b) What are some of the issues and problems typically encountered when forecasting the demand for hotel rooms and occupancy rates?
c) What are the implications for managers in the hotel industry? Discuss the accuracy of the forecasting models employed.