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The ripple effects of rising airfares and capacity cuts, exacerbated by the slowing economy, the rising cost of fuel, and currency exchange woes, may be hitting hotels and other travel services. And you might just benefit.

With the number of travelers, especially leisure travelers, taking to the skies on the decline, hotels are feeling the pinch:

Downtown Chicago hotel occupancy rates dipped to 65.2 percent during the first five months of this year, from 67.4 percent in the year-earlier period—the first erosion of strength in such a time frame since 2004, according to data from Smith Travel Research.

Nationwide, hotel occupancy dropped to 66.7 percent for those months, down from 68 percent in the year-ago period.

A minor dip, so far, and not exactly a crisis, but this is early in the cycle. And the Chicago data may be a poor example, as the Windy City remains a business travel destination and a convention hub. How about more typical leisure markets?

Robert Mann, president of R.W. Mann & Co. in Port Washington, N.Y., said, “Most of the effects won’t be felt until after the big schedule cuts this fall.”

The pain is expected to be most deeply felt in leisure destinations such as Las Vegas and Orlando, as airlines cut service more deeply to destinations that draw flocks of tourists seeking cheap flights, he said.

It’s being felt outside the U.S., as well. UK air traffic hasn’t taken the beating that US traffic has, but Britons are apparently wary of spending on travel:

Hotels in Europe have begun to drop their prices for this summer in a bid to avoid losing customers because of the weak pound and economic downturn.

Accommodation-only provider HotelConnect said 50% of its hotels have reduced their prices by 10% to 15% for July and August.

The move comes as hotel occupancy levels are falling in European cities as holidaymakers opt for UK or non-eurozone destinations such as Turkey and Egypt.

Perhaps the Euroland hotels are seeing weakness, too, because EU tourists, feeling the strength of their currency, are drawn to the cheaper shores of dollar-denominated nations?

But even currency-rich foreign tourists won’t save a market if the transportation lines are cut. Take the Caribbean:

American Airlines’ decision to cut another eight per cent of its workforce could further affect the Caribbean, airline and tourism industry officials said.
[…]
American Eagle also announced a reduction in its Caribbean schedule from 55 to 33 daily departures out of San Juan from 3 Sept.
[…]
As a result, Caribbean tourism ministers, who met in Antigua last Thursday, announced a plan to set up several committees to deal with four critical areas – marketing the region, financial guarantees for airlines, issues concerning regional carriers, and hubs.

Panic is setting in. If the airlines don’t bring them, the customers won’t come. You can’t build a tourist economy on the back of yachts anymore.

So what does this mean for you?

Expect heavier marketing, with destinations trying desperately to woo you. Magazine ads, internet popups, you name it. Convention and tourism boards will be spending hard to try to get you to notice them.

Expect hotel discounts and more aggressive packages. If you don’t get them, demand them. If an area is getting nervous at slackening demand — and not every area is, yet — they’ll start negotiating. Don’t just rely on published rates: Call the hotel and drive a harder bargain.

Expect more last minute deals for hotels and rental cars. As perishable inventory piles up, you’ll see more deals on discounted sites like Lastminute.com, Hotwire, or Priceline.

The tradeoff: The accompanying last-minute airfares will be no picnic. But at least your room could be cheap.