Mergers Ahead for the Post-Pandemic Hotel Industry
Larry Mogelonsky | August 26, 2020
Boutique Resort, Belvedere Hotel Mykonos Turns to IDeaS to Manage, Control and Maximise Data
IDeaS | August 25, 2020
Hotel Recovery
UNWTO Launches Comprehensive Tourism Recovery Tracker
UNWTO | September 24, 2020
As growing numbers of countries around the world ease restrictions on travel, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has launched a new Tourism Recovery Tracker to support global tourism. This represents the latest concrete action undertaken by the United Nations specialized agency as it leads the response of global tourism and guides recovery. The most comprehensive tourism dashboard to date, the Tracker is the result of a partnership between international organizations and the private sector. Available for free, it covers key tourism performance indicators by month, regions and subregions allowing for a real time comparison of the sector r...
Business Travel Is a Virtual Affair
September 24, 2020
At this time last year it wasn’t unusual for executives of O-I Glass Inc. to hop a flight to visit any one of its 78 factories located far flung across the globe. But today, said Randy Burns, the company’s chief sustainability & corporate affairs officer, that kind of travel has come to a dead stop in the age of the coronavirus. “Business travel has changed for us. We’ve had no business travel since the beginning of Covid. And it’s not returning to normal now,” he said. Perrysburg-based O-I Glass isn’t alone among northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan companies. Officials from a list of companies that includes Ow...
JLL’s 21st Semi-Annual Hotel Investment Sentiment Survey
JLL | September 23, 2020
JLL’s Hotel Investor Sentiment Survey provides a perspective on the current state of the lodging industry and highlights investor expectations related to investment activity and hotel performance. The pandemic’s shock sparks resilience in the lodging industry Historically the lodging industry has proved to be one of the most resilient industries in the world and there is no reason why the industry cannot recover from the COVID-19 shock. As one of the real estate sectors most dependent on individual mobility, travel restrictions and government-mandated lockdowns induced a dramatic decline in hotel occupancies across the world with perfor...
Covid Compliance Software to Mitigate a Second Wave
Larry Mogelonsky | September 23, 2020
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Second waves are a constant threat at present, and every hotel needs to do its part to prevent the virus from coming back and forcing governments to reenter lockdown conditions. More so than that, it’s a matter of reputation management, preventing personal lawsuits and safeguarding your room revenues by keeping properties open. Mitigating risk in today’s environment means that you need monitoring technology to straightforwardly prove via thorough and agnostic documentation that your entire team was compliant with the latest viral safety guidelines. Now with months of data on its...
Frontline Staff Key to Top Performance in Inaugural J.D. Power Third-Party Hotel Management Guest Satisfaction Benchmark
J.D. Power | September 22, 2020
Crestline Hotels & Resorts Ranks Highest in Guest Satisfaction among Large Third-Party Hotel Management Companies TROY, Mich. - September 22, 2020 - Even in the age of digitally enabled, contactless hotel bookings and hand-sanitized check-ins, a key element driving hotel guest satisfaction with third-party management companies is staff service. That’s the central finding of the new J.D. Power 2020 Third-Party Hotel Management Guest Satisfaction Benchmark,SM released today. For the first time, J.D. Power evaluates guest satisfaction for the largest third-party management companies. J.D. Power does so by analyzing guest responses t...
The Onus Lies With Us – Rebuilding Trust to Get Back Guests to Eat & Stay With Us!
Ajay Mehtani | September 21, 2020
By Ajay Mehtani, Dipti Mohan After a prolonged lockdown, our industry is gradually picking up the threads and rekindling operations with one of the immediate tasks being rebuilding guest confidence and trust. This is easier said than done as the guests are more cautious than ever and are watching closely! No amount of third-party certification will get you a repeat purchase if the guest does not feel ‘safe’ within your premises. You may have the most attractive offers, best revenue management practices, the best food and the best of everything else, however, if the guests don’t feel ‘safe’ then you have offered your hard-to-ge...
Upgrade to a New Affordable ADA Compliant Website, on “Pay-As-You-Go” Model With No Capital Expense
Lodging Interactive and Commingle:Engage | September 21, 2020
PARSIPPANY, NJ – September 9, 2020 - Lodging Interactive, a full-service digital marketing, social media engagement, and reputation management agency exclusively serving the hospitality industry, is making it easy for hotels to upgrade their digital marketing presence through its HotelSiteXPRESS service. HotelSiteXPRESS provides an affordable way for hotels to upgrade their online presence with a new, fully responsive website and online marketing services on a subscription-based model with no capital outlay. “We believe hotels must make it a priority to upgrade their websites during the current slow-down in occupancies,...
Hotel Cleanliness Policies in the Time of COVID-19
Christian Cross | September 17, 2020
By Christian Cross Outbreak and the Initial Response at the Height of Impact COVID-19 has posed challenges never seen before by the hotel industry, requiring owners, managers, and brands to take new precautions to keep both guests and staff safe. The industry faced the added challenge of not only creating a safe lodging environment but also creating the impression of security to give guests the confidence to travel again. As the virus rapidly spread around the globe, brands quickly got to work on creating new standards to implement throughout their chains; however, local owners and management companies needed to take immediate steps to addr...
Unprecedented Closures Continue to Impact Manhattan Hotels
PwC | September 14, 2020
Manhattan Lodging Overview The COVID-19 pandemic continued to severely impair Manhattan hotels in the second quarter, as travel restrictions and business closures remained the new normal. With over 60,000 hotel rooms currently closed, widespread cancellation of group travel, and heightened economic uncertainty, second quarter revenue per available room (“RevPAR”) experienced a year-over-year decline of 81.6%. This represents the largest decline in RevPAR in modern history for the market. Six months since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Manhattan’s lodging sector continues to experience record closures. As of early September, app...
Hotel Owners Should Think Like Institutional Owners in the Post-COVID Era
Akash Datta | September 14, 2020
By Akash Datta, Dipti Mohan As we all gradually get back to business one of the pertinent questions that is being asked is whether hotels can still be considered a good investment vehicle going forward. We believe the answer to be a big ‘yes’. It’s true that the demand will be subdued for the near to medium term, but the industry is expected to regain its 2019 glory in the next 2-3 years, and this is perhaps an opportune time to invest in hotels. However, hotel owners need to re-evaluate their investment objectives and don the hat of an institutional investor now more than ever. Hotel development costs and gestation periods are fa...
Las Vegas COVID-19 Pandemic Update
Shannon S. Okada | September 11, 2020
By Shannon S. Okada The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) reported that the number of visitors to Las Vegas in June and July of 2020 totaled 2,503,100, which represented a 65.7% decrease from 7,293,300 visitors in June and July of 2019. Visitors to Las Vegas in the year-to-date period through July 2020 totaled 11,170,700, a 55.0% decline from the 24,825,500 visitors during the same period of 2019. However, visitor numbers increased 35.0% from June 2020 to July 2020. Las Vegas Visitor Statistics Source: Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority McCarran International Airport reported passenger traffic of 2,665...
Canada’s Hotel Industry Shows Lower Performance From Prior Weeks
STR | September 11, 2020
HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee—STR data for 30 August through 5 September 2020 showed slightly lower performance from prior weeks for Canada’s hotel industry. Year-over-year declines, while improved, also remain significant. In comparison with the week of 1-7 September 2019, the industry reported the following: Occupancy: -36.5% to 41.9% Average daily rate (ADR): -26.7% to CAD128.13 Revenue per available room (RevPAR): -53.4% to CAD53.65 Occupancy for previous weeks came in at 42.1%, 42.9% and 41.8%, respectively For the week ending with 5 September, two provinces reached a 50% occupancy level: Prince Edward Isl...
U.S. Hotel Occupancy Gets Boost From Labor Day Weekend
STR | September 11, 2020
HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee—Boosted in part by Labor Day weekend, U.S. hotel occupancy increased slightly over the previous week, according to the latest data from STR. 30 August through 5 September 2020 (percentage change from comparable week in 2019): Occupancy: 49.4% (-18.9%) Average daily rate (ADR): US$100.97 (-17.1%) Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$49.87 (-32.8%) Hotel demand grew to 18 million room nights sold (+500,000 week over week). Saturday (5 September) occupancy came in at 69.0%, just 2.6% less than the comparable Saturday in 2019, and leisure markets that have showed the highest summer occupa...
Travel Industry: Appropriate Testing Protocols A Must or U.S. Economy Will Lose $155 Billion Due to International Travel Collapse
the Global Business Travel Association | September 11, 2020
Aviation industry groups urge the Administration to take necessary steps to safely open international travel markets Alexandria, Virginia (September 10, 2020) In a letter released today, 18 travel and aviation industry groups called on the Administration to take coordinated and deliberate action to safely reopen international travel markets. The letter, addressed to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II, Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad F. Wolf, and Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao, from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), along with groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Air T...
Multi-Year Recovery Along With New Opportunities for the Travel and Hospitality Sector, Predicts HVS Global Leadership
HVS | September 10, 2020
DENVER, CO, September 10, 2020: HVS senior management across the globe hosted a webinar on September 8, 2020, to offer expert perspectives on key hospitality topics including how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their respective regions and the kind of recovery hoteliers can anticipate, as well as the long-term changes the sector is likely to experience. Opened by CEO Stephen Rushmore and moderated by HVS London Chairman Russell Kett, the webinar also included a straw poll, in which 51% of the over 1,800 global participants said they expected RevPAR (rooms revenue per available room) to return to pre-COVID-19 levels during 2023, wit...
Travel & Tourism Companies’ Sentiments Showing Signs of Rebound
GlobalData | September 9, 2020
The travel and tourism (T&T) sector witnessed an uptick in Q3 2020 earnings transcript sentiment scores, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. Hotel operators’ sentimental growth was influenced by improvements in occupancy rates, while airline companies’ sentiments were largely influenced by enhanced liquidity. Rinaldo Pereira, Senior Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, says: “There has been a surprisingly early sentiment rebound in the T&T sector, which has taken a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Companies in this space have been supported by government relief packages, but questions arise...
Travel & Tourism Sector Witnessed 4.5% Growth in Deal Activity During August
GlobalData | September 9, 2020
A total of 115 deals were announced in the global travel and tourism sector during August 2020, which is an increase of 4.5% over 110 deals announced during the previous month, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “August marks the third consecutive month of growth in deal activity for the sector. This also assumes more significance as the travel and tourism sector remains one of the worst hit industries due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has witnessed several months of decline in deal activity in 2020. However, with several countries attempting to revive the t...
Economy Extended-Stay Hotels Hold Up Best During Q2 2020
Rodney Clough | September 8, 2020
By Rodney Clough, Chelsey Leffet The second quarter of 2020 was the low point for the hospitality industry, as the world was gripped by the pandemic and as travel lockdowns were widespread. HVS compiled the 2020 performance statistics of brands reported by public companies for the second quarter and compared the data to second-quarter performance of 2019. The data reflect the resiliency of economy, extended-stay brands during the first months of the pandemic. Average Q2 Occupancy Decline (Points of Occupancy) Source: Stock Filings Economy, extended-stay brands experienced the least amount of impact, albeit still a significant ...
Tripadvisor Reveals Fall Travel Index: For Americans, Florida’s Recovery Bolstered by Improved Searches for Hotel Bookings
Tripadvisor | September 8, 2020
Key Largo, Key West and St. Pete Beach are among the fastest recovering U.S. destinations since last year NEEDHAM, Mass., Sept. 8, 2020 -- Tripadvisor, the world's largest travel platform, today released findings from its Seasonal Travel Index for Fall, providing travelers with insight into where Americans are traveling this autumn as tourism markets continue their path to recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent Tripadvisor site data shows that globally, domestic travel for the fall season (September 1 - November 30, 2020) continues to gradually recover, with nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of all travelers planning domestic fall ge...
The Future of Hotel Call Centers
Travel Outlook Hotel Reservation Call Center Services | September 8, 2020
Why Outsourcing May Be in Your Hotel's Best Interest As hotels slowly reopen in parts of the US, it’s time to question the future role of hotel call centers. In the following interview, we’re speaking with Travel Outlook’s CEO John Smallwood and its Vice President Operations Brett Puffenberger, about the challenge’s hotel-based call centers are facing today and in the coming months and maybe years. Can you talk about the challenges’ hotel-based call centers are facing today? John: A major issue for hotels that are starting to reopen is having enough on-property staff to field incoming calls. A lot of hotels still have employe...
Fitch Ratings Maintains the Rating Watch Negative for U.S. Single-Borrower Hotel CMBS
Fitch Ratings | September 3, 2020
"Unprecedented" Revenue Declines Prompt Continued Negative Watch for Hotel CMBS On Aug. 26, Fitch Ratings maintained the Rating Watch Negative (RWN) on all Fitch-rated U.S. CMBS single-borrower hotel transactions. Below, we outline the market and asset level factors Fitch will continue to monitor in determining ratings actions that would lead to a revision of the RWN. We also outline the anticipated timelines. There will be an unprecedented decline in hotel revenues in 2020, thus cash flow analysis utilizing 2020 numbers would be an unreliable indicator of hotel value. Fitch is forecasting that trailing twelve-month (TTM) revenue per av...
Tourism Tidbits: Dealing With Difficult Customers and Situations in a Post-Pandemic World
Dr. Peter E. Tarlow | September 2, 2020
By Dr. Peter Tarlow Traditionally in most of the northern hemisphere the month of September is called the "dog days" of summer. The name derives from the fact that it is often too hot for even a dog to want to wander along the streets. During previous years, September was a time when people returned from vacations, schools reopened, and business returned to a more normal routine. The summer’s end was also high tourist season in much of the world. The transition period between summer and autumn seemed to many to be a period of full airplanes and hotels and a period when travelers had frayed nerves. This description was the “then...
The Roger Smith Hotel and the New Working-From-a-Hotel Model
Larry Mogelonsky | September 2, 2020
By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com) Who is Roger Smith? As the hotel’s Director of Marketing and Co-Owner, John Knowles, jocularly explained during our time together, the enigmatic ‘Roger’ is many things to many people. The personified alias that has given this Midtown Manhattan property its name has always represented a place where great ideas are born and where bold actions are made reality. Now, however, the 136-room Roger Smith Hotel offers an archetypical example of a trendsetting post-Covid adaptation in a major urban center, and hoteliers would be wise to take note. Located at the corner of 47th and Lexin...
ProfitSword Launches Hospitality Recovery Dashboard to Provide Industry With Insight Into Real-Time Market Performance and Future Outlook
ProfitSword | September 2, 2020
Latest in hospitality business intelligence software utilized to visualize a range of key performance indicators and now freely available to assist industry professionals with navigating the post COVID-19 environment. ORLANDO, Fla. – (September 2, 2020) – ProfitSword, the leading developer of business intelligence and data integration software, has unveiled its designing of an advanced hospitality market performance dashboard that can aggregate real-time metrics from businesses across the industry to present a comprehensive analysis of how recovery efforts are progressing and what hoteliers can expect from the marketplace in upcoming m...
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