The U.S. hotel industry’s pretax profit in 2011 reached $21.6 billion, rising 20 percent over the previous year’s profit, according to AH&LA‘s annual Lodging Industry Profile. The number of international visitors to the U.S. rose 4 percent, to 63.2 million, in 2011, as overall tourism sales reached $813 billion excluding airline spending by international travelers. Read the World Property Channel story here.