{"id":2498,"date":"2020-03-11T14:04:18","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T14:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geek.com\/featured\/-1820136\/"},"modified":"2020-03-11T14:04:18","modified_gmt":"2020-03-11T14:04:18","slug":"study-hotels-benefit-from-cannabis-legalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2020\/03\/11\/study-hotels-benefit-from-cannabis-legalization\/","title":{"rendered":"Study: Hotels Benefit From Cannabis Legalization"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photo Credit: Rick Proctor \/ Unsplash<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Cannabis isn’t just for stoners: The legalization of recreational marijuana may mean a boon for the hospitality industry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Researcher John O’Neill found that<\/a>, after legalizing pot, Denver, Colo., saw roughly $130 million new hotel revenues.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Schedule 1 drug at the U.S. federal level, cannabis is prohibited even in medical use.<\/span><\/p>\n

But no such protections exist for recreation: The production, sale, and consumption of pot is allowed in 11 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia; it has been decriminalized in another 15 states and one territory.<\/span><\/p>\n

And with more states mulling approval, O’Neill believes his findings “could be useful to government officials and business owners” considering changing the legislation.<\/span><\/p>\n

O’Neill, a professor of hospitality management at Penn State, chose to focus his work on Denver, where recreational marijuana use was legalized in 2014. No other area provides a longer study period, he said, praising the capital city’s substantial, possibly generalizable, sample from which to draw results.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A Penn State researcher found that recreational marijuana legalization positively affected hotel revenues in Denver (via Alex Person\/Unsplash)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Using hotel data from STR (formerly Smith Travel Research) combined with geo-coordinates and opening dates of recreational marijuana dispensaries in the area, O’Neill examined the drug’s effects on hotel performance.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I found that recreational marijuana legalization positively affected hotel revenues in Denver, totaling approximately $130 million in new hotel revenues,” he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, visitation to Denver increased in 2014, boasting 9 percent growth in occupied hotel rooms\u2014higher than any other year O’Neill studied.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sudden influx of marijuana tourism meant area hotels could charge higher prices for rooms, resulting in a positive economic impact. Notably, pay-offs were more pronounced in cheaper accommodations than upmarket lodging.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those benefits, however, were short-lived: After about a year, revenue rates returned to normal.<\/span><\/p>\n

“[Denver’s] growth after legalizing recreational marijuana was above and beyond what would have been otherwise expected,” O’Neill explained.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Its growth was greater than comparable cities, such as Albuquerque, Austin, and Salt Lake City [and] was greater than national averages,” he continued. “I believe the difference in hotel revenues was due to the legalization of recreational marijuana in Denver.”<\/span><\/p>\n

O’Neill’s findings appeared in the latest issue of the <\/span>Journal of Real Estate Literature<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

More on Geek.com:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n