It’s been a rough year for the travel industry.  California has seen a tripling of hotel foreclosures in the first nine months of the year.  Arizona’s hotels are also struggling, and last month the city of Phoenix asked residents to help:

A new study released by the Greater Phoenix Convention and Visitors Bureau cites tens of thousands of jobs and $166 million in sales and property taxes from Phoenix hotels as evidence of the need to support the industry’s recovery efforts. The city is trying to enlist residents as volunteer sales representatives, asking them to help woo the conventions of associations and other groups they belong to.

Apparently former Arizona governor Janet Napolitano, now with the Department of Homeland Security, is doing her part for her old home state.  How’s this for a novel approach to filling hotel rooms?

PHOENIX (Reuters) – The United States, criticized for holding illegal immigrants in overcrowded and poorly run jails, on Tuesday announced plans to convert hotels to detain some noncriminal immigrants.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said illegal immigrants ranging from criminals to newly arrived asylum seekers would be held in different facilities according to the risk they pose.

"This is a system that encompasses many different types of detainees, not all of whom need to be held in prison-like circumstances," Napolitano told a conference call.

Referring to noncriminals such as newly arrived asylum seekers, Napolitano said, "We will begin efforts to house these populations near immigration service providers and pursue different options like converted hotels or residential facilities for their detention."

Residential facilities?  Has Napolitano got a solution for vacant homes as well?

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