SIC 7041 Organization Hotels and Lodging Houses, on Membership Basis

SIC 7041

This category covers lodging houses and hotels operated by membership organizations for the benefit of their constituents, not open to the general public. Commercial hotels operated by such organizations are classified in SIC 7011: Hotels and Motels and commercial rooming and boarding houses are classified in SIC 7021: Rooming and Boarding Houses. Residential homes for the aged and handicapped are classified in SIC 8361: Residential Care.

NAICS CODE(S)

721110

Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels

721310

Rooming and Boarding Houses

The organization hotels and lodging houses industry included establishments such as boarding houses for members of organizations; fraternity and sorority houses; residence clubs; and rooming houses operated by private clubs. Commercial hotels, public boarding houses, and residential homes for the aged were classified elsewhere.

Membership lodging establishments existed in the United States from the founding of the nation. For example, the first fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa, was founded in 1776 at William and Mary College. The first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, was instituted in 1870 at Depauw University. A plethora of other not-for-profit organizations that offered boarding facilities emerged during the twentieth century. The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), for instance, started its U.S. chapter in 1851 and grew to more than 13 million members by the early 1990s. Likewise, Youth Hostels Inc. of America, which provided inexpensive travel lodging nationwide to its members, had over 100,000 members. With the population aging, organizations like Elderhostel have also become popular. Here people 55 or older pay a fee to join, then take advantage of numerous study trips around the United States and the world. Most of these trips involve a classroom or field trip environment.

In addition to not-for-profit membership lodging facilities, the fastest growing sector of this industry during the 1980s was commercial vacation travel clubs. Members of these organizations often paid an annual fee and received access to private vacation facilities or special travel packages. A proliferation of travel and vacation membership clubs during the 1980s boosted the number of industry participants to about 2,500 by the late 1980s with revenues reached about $350 million. The industry suffered during the recession of the late 1980s and early 1990s, however, as vacation and...