Nashville's A Hot Hotel Town. Here's Why.

Nashville's hit the lodging demand trifecta: record lodging revenues, RevPAR and sales prices, HREC principal Pat Culligan tells Bisnow. He offers us some reasons why.

1) Employment Base. Nashville's economic base is very solidly built around the more recession-impervious sectors of medical, education and government, Pat notes. "Recovery is a lot easier when the downturn was a bunny hill and not a ski slope."

2) Employment Growth. Nothing happens without jobs. The MSA has added over 75,000 net new jobs since 2010. By contrast, many other markets haven't even recovered to 2010 employment levels yet. Pat's snapped at the Indy 500 with his son Patrick.

3) Branding. “Music City” branding has gotten increasingly more sophisticated and effective, Pat says. "One of those key strategic and financial initiatives that has helped to drive Nashville lodging demand includes the support of the ABC show Nashville, a hit on so many levels."

4) Air Transportation. You can get most anywhere from here quickly and easily. More flights, more carriers and over a 20% increase in passenger traffic over the last several years. "Many other markets saw a significant decline in both service and traffic with the increased consolidation of the airline industry and the closing of numerous hubs."

5) An Expanded Convention Center. When Nashville expanded its convention center, it almost immediately booked over 1 million room nights and grew its total consumed annual room nights from conventions almost 40% in the last several years, Pat explains.

6) Government. City and County government are united; public and private initiatives are common; and a unified front in fact and practice has been long realized. "This impacts everything," Pat says.