The projected increase in hotel room occupancy rates in Boston could push hospitality investors to trade properties in the coming year, according to industry insiders. 

Hotel room bookings generated by the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center are expected to jump 34 percent to 601,000 rooms in 2012 from 446,596 this year, according to the state’s convention center authority. If that happens, travelers seeking a room in Boston will likely find "no vacancy" signs citywide and be pushed out to the suburbs to find any room at the inn.

Those sold out nights occur when there are competing events in town. If a popular convention is occurring the same day as a sporting or university event and those are competing with the business travelers that already populate Boston’s hotels on a daily basis, you have a recipe for some serious hotel compression, said Denny Meikleham, managing director for Boston-based Pinnacle Realty Investments.

"When Mr. Smith traveler needs to have a room and likes to stay at the Copley Square Hotel and finds out it’s sold out, and then he calls around and finds they’re all sold out, he’ll be forced to stay outside of the city," Meikleham told Banker & Tradesman. "You’re adding a demand generator that fuels your economy."

And that, in turn, will push business out to the Route 128 belt. As occupancy rates start to pick up, investors will become more interested in trading properties, and eventually that will lead to justification of new hotel construction, Meikleham said. 

"It’s like the casino business – it’s not just about the casino revenue, it’s also the revenue from travelers that would come here that aren’t coming here right now," he added. "It’s a fuel to spur business growth."

The uptick in hotel activity could also be an indicator of the region’s economic health, according to Meikleham. Those sold out hotel nights happen often – when an area is not in a recession. If they become more common in the coming years, then that’s a good sign for Greater Boston, he said.