New Research Reveals Price No Longer Primary Driver of Travel Decisions
Expedia Group | July 28, 2021
Five Ways Tech Builds the Next Stage of Local Authenticity for Hotel
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | July 21, 2021
Hotel Recovery
New Research Reveals Price No Longer Primary Driver of Travel Decisions
Expedia Group | July 28, 2021
SEATTLE — July 28, 2021 — New research from Expedia Group reveals shifting views on travel, including positive sentiment on vaccine passports, increased budgets, and an enduring demand for safety and financial security. The Traveler Value Index examines the views of 8,000 people in eight countries to understand their values and expectations as the pandemic becomes more controlled in many parts of the world. “As vaccination rates rise and borders open across the globe, people are ready and eager to travel. However, the months of uncertainty are weighing on their travel decisions and shifting the conventional belief that price is the ...
Pandemic in the Rearview: Nashville’s COVID-19 Impact and Recovery
HVS | July 27, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented setback in Nashville’s growth, particularly within the lodging, convention, and tourism industries, similar to trends across the nation. According to STR, occupancy levels declined by 44% in 2020, while ADR contracted by 30%. This culminated in the lowest hotel performance metrics since STR began collecting data, with RevPAR dropping an extraordinary 61% in 2020. Full-service downtown hotels realized more precipitous drops in performance; occupancy levels plummeted to a low of roughly 27%, reflecting a 66% drop from 2019. ADR for these hotels contracted less substantially, ending the year down 17....
STR: U.K. Leading Europe in Hotel Occupancy Recovery
STR | July 26, 2021
LONDON — July 26, 2021 — The U.K. continues to lead Europe in hotel occupancy with four straight weeks above 60% in the metric, according to STR data through 18 July. “Demand is almost exclusively leisure-driven as the U.K. has benefitted from a successful vaccination program, a phased reopening and improved travel sentiment overall,” said Thomas Emanuel, STR’s Director. “Other countries are showing improvement in recent weeks for those very same reasons, but this is still far from a normal summer in Europe.’ The U.K.’s highest weekly occupancy level (63.5%) came during 12-18 July, but that was still significantly lower...
U.S. Construction Pipeline Continues Along the Road to Recovery
Lodging Econometrics | July 26, 2021
PORTSMOUTH, NH – July 26, 2021 – At the close of 2021’s second quarter, analysts at Lodging Econometrics (LE) report that the total U.S. construction pipeline stands at 4,787 projects/598,111 rooms, down 14% Year-Over-Year (YOY) by projects from Q2 2020’s 5,582 projects/687,801 rooms. This decline in pipeline totals YOY is largely a result of projects that were delayed in the under construction phase of the pipeline as a result of COVID, now having exited the pipeline and opened. During the first and second quarters of 2021, the U.S. opened 472 new hotels with 59,034 rooms. LE is forecasting another 450 projects/51,754 rooms to ope...
U.K. Leading Europe in Hotel Performance Recovery
STR | July 23, 2021
The U.K. continues to lead Europe in hotel performance recovery, due almost exclusively to domestic demand. In this latest piece, we take a quick look at the U.K.’s recent performance timeline as well as occupancy on the books for the coming months as the country further eases restrictions. Green shoots as hotels reopen Due to reopening, along with an assist from the summer half-term holiday (31 May-4 June), U.K. hotel occupancy came in at 43.1% in May 2021. That was up from May 2020 (23.0%) but substantially below May 2019 (78.9%). Because of the pandemic impact on 2020 data, STR is using 2019 as the recovery benchmark....
Five Ways Tech Builds the Next Stage of Local Authenticity for Hotel
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | July 21, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Coming out of the pandemic, guest demands have irreversibly changed. They don’t want cookie-cutter rooms; they want experiences. This harks back to the push over the previous decade to make our properties more ‘locally authentic’. Now, with lean teams and skeleton crews, the only way to effectively meet this demand is through technology. For the post-pandemic travel landscape, local authenticity means more than just a cursory immersion in the arts, culture and heritage of one’s locale. It also equals peace of mind because, in light of the residual anxiety over COVID-19, guests need to feel as though ...
Recruitment, Retention and Effective Management Become Crucial for Post-Covid Hotel Sector
HVS | July 20, 2021
London - July 20, 2021 - The ability of hotel companies in the UK and Europe to attract and retain staff has never been more crucial as a combination of new immigration policies making it more difficult to employ foreign workers and the on-going impact of covid continue to threaten staffing levels. Attendees of the latest webinar from global hotel consultancy HVS, restructuring specialist AlixPartners, lawyers Bird & Bird, and EP Business in Hospitality heard a lively discussion earlier today [20th July] on the hotel sector’s ability to recruit and retain staff, with 75% of attendees admitting to running at between 20%-25% fewer...
U.S. Lodging Demand Forecast to Return to Pre-Pandemic Levels by Fourth Quarter 2023
CBRE Group, Inc. | July 20, 2021
Dallas, TX – July 20, 2021 – Based on stronger than expected performance during the first quarter of 2021, plus encouraging economic and vaccination news, CBRE Hotels Research forecasts U.S. lodging demand will return to pre-pandemic levels by the fourth quarter of 2023. The strength in lodging demand will support pricing, but occupancy gains will be somewhat offset by new supply, as fewer development and conversion projects were side-lined than previously forecasted. As a result, the recovery in occupancy will not occur until the fourth quarter of 2025 due to greater supply growth during the 2020 – 2022 period than coming out of pr...
Reports: Nearly 500,000 Hotel Jobs Won’t Return by Year’s End, Room Revenue Will Be Down $44 Billion From 2019
AHLA | July 20, 2021
Findings Come as Hoteliers Meet with Congress to Call for Aid Download Reports Here and Here WASHINGTON – July 20, 2021 – Midway through 2021, a new report and state-by-state job loss breakdown released by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) find that while leisure travel is starting to return, the hotel industry’s road to recovery from the pandemic is long and uneven, with urban markets disproportionately impacted. Industry projections have improved since January with the uptick in leisure travel, but the industry remains well below pre-pandemic levels. Key findings include: More than one in five d...
Hotel Marketing – What Separates Winners From Losers?
Ines Barreiros | July 19, 2021
By Ines Barreiros In an economic recession, many Hoteliers may be hesitant to risk jeopardizing their revenue post-crisis by investing in marketing campaigns. If you are part of this crowd, we have one question: “Do you want prospective customers to remember you when ‘Revenge Travel’ strikes?” As our CEO Pedro Colaco says, “Hotel Marketing is not about selling, but generating demand”, history tells us that periods of low demand give hotels the opportunity to ramp up marketing in preparation for the upturn. When looking back at the crises of the past, it’s important to understand which strategies hotels implement...
Success in the Summer of ‘21
Robert Rauch | July 19, 2021
How To Welcome Post-Pandemic Travelers Back Into Hotels By Robert Rauch The venerable hotel industry has been completely overturned during the past 15 months. We will have to create a very different strategy to outperform the competition this summer. What are the dynamics of hospitality industry competition today and how can we put together a winning plan in time for the Summer of 2021? Today, a digital marketing strategy is an industry imperative and critical business solution in this digital age. Platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter allow hotels and restaurants to engage guests and offer a highly personalized level of...
Bleisure as Usual and Five Other Factors to Boost the Groups Segment
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | July 14, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Now firmly in summer and it’s safe to say that the leisure segment is back online from the druthers of 2020 – groups, not so much. While every hotelier wants meetings and events to strike back in a similar fashion, there are a few almost irreversible considerations for the post-pandemic groups landscape. Rather than try to make it 2019 again, the wise hotelier will accept these changes and pivot operations to meet the new types of demand that are emerging. For meetings and events, this will mean fewer large-scale conventions and open-for-all receptions, and more limited, invitation-only gatherings. Start...
Mythbusters: Recovery Edition – Part Two
Vertical Booking USA | July 14, 2021
By Mark Lewis-Brown As I mentioned in Part One of this article, there are many mixed messages floating around in the hospitality industry today about how/what hoteliers need to do/buy in order to be profitable in the “new normal” that we’re all facing. (If you missed Part One, stop reading immediately – no, seriously… immediately! – and read it first.) Lucky for you, I’m here to help bust three more common myths that hoteliers are being told/believing about the industry, as we move into the recovery phase of the pandemic: Myth #1 - Guests do still want their rooms cleaned, maybe even more so than normal. Given how ...
The Post-Pandemic Hard Reset
Vikram Singh | July 13, 2021
By Vikram Singh I wrote two articles during the pandemic, one around the beginning and one in the middle. It’s time to complete the trilogy. Our industry has been given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to fundamentally change itself. How we market, price and operate hotel assets needs to evolve to meet the changing market landscape. Here are my thoughts on how to make real changes in order to embrace the tremendous opportunities that lie ahead. Embrace the Hard Reset The hotel and travel industry was ground zero for the impact of global lockdowns: the hard reset button on the entire industry was pressed. A hard reset on an electronic ...
Australia’s Latest COVID-19 Lockdowns Take Their Toll on Hotel Bookings
STR | July 9, 2021
Australia has been one of the highest performing hotel occupancy markets with improving midweek demand alongside continued strength across weekends. Amid recent COVID-19 outbreaks and lockdowns, however, key markets in the country are showing noticeably lower levels of occupancy on the books for the coming weeks. When comparing the Forward STAR data updates of 28 June 2021 vs. 21 June 2021, Sydney’s average decline in occupancy on the books for the coming weeks and months was 13.8%. For the week of 27 June-3 July, Sydney’s hotel occupancy was not expected to exceed 20%, which would be a greater than 50% drop from previous weeks. The...
Vaccines and Digital Solutions to Ease Travel Restrictions
UNWTO | July 7, 2021
The global vaccination rollout and increased adoption of digital solutions for safe travel should lead to a rise in international mobility over the weeks and months ahead, the latest data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) indicates. According to the newest edition of the Travel Restrictions Report from the United Nations specialized agency for tourism, as of 1 June, 29% of all destinations worldwide have their borders completely closed to international tourism. Of these, more than half have been completely closed to tourists for since May 2020 or longer, with the majority of these belonging to the Small Island Development States of...
What Exhibitions Tell Us About MICE Recovery
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | July 7, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Freeman (www.freeman.com) is the global leader in exhibition management. Family-owned and operated, they are the ‘go to’ folks behind numerous convention centers with a bevy of services to create memorable, large-scale events. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to stay behind at the end of a tradeshow, or for that matter set up a booth, you’ll be amazed at the speed and capabilities of their team members. I recently had an opportunity to chat with Mickey McClay Wilson, the company’s Chief Marketing Officer. My interest was simple: can Freeman shine a light on the recovery of a business inextricably...
China: A Look Back and a Look Forward
STR | July 7, 2021
After the outbreak of the epidemic in Guangdong at the end of May, the occupancy rates of the two major cities in Guangdong—Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and other parts of the province—have fallen to the bottom. As the center of this epidemic, Guangzhou hotels have been more severely affected. With the implementation of anti-epidemic measures and accelerated vaccination, the Guangzhou epidemic has gradually improved in mid-June. Not only has Fangcun been unblocked, high-risk areas have been downgraded, and the occupancy rate of Guangzhou hotels has also improved. In Shenzhen, affected by the new cases in the Bao'an District on 14 June, it may tak...
Report: 21 of Top 25 U.S. Hotel Markets in Depression or Recession
AHLA | July 1, 2021
WASHINGTON – July 1, 2021 – Despite an uptick in leisure travel, a new report released by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) shows that the road to recovery for the hotel industry is long with 21 of the top 25 U.S. hotel markets remaining in a depression or recession. The new data shows urban hotels are still in a “depression” cycle while the overall U.S. hotel industry remains in a “recession.” Urban markets, which rely heavily on business from events and group meetings, continue to face a severe financial crisis as they have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Urban hotels were down 52% i...
Hospitality’s Second Act: Capitalizing on the Enchantment Economy
Thomas Mielke | June 30, 2021
By Thomas Mielke The successful vaccine rollouts mean global economies are now generally rebounding from the sustained social and travel restrictions of the past year. Consequently, service-hospitality organizations are seeing consumer activity like so-called ‘revenge tourism’ further speed up the recovery. Although demand will undoubtedly be high, so too will customers’ expectations. Having longed for entertainment, enrichment, and escapism, guests will not want to be disappointed. Operators should therefore be hypervigilant ‘wooing, and wowing’ consumers. At a recent expert forum, organized by Seatrade Cruise and AETHOS, pan...
The Next Normal: Hotel Benchmarking Post-Pandemic
STR | June 30, 2021
After record-breaking disruptions to the global hotel industry, traditional year-over-year comparisons have been rendered far less actionable when benchmarking hotel performance data. During the Hotel Data Conference: Global Edition, on 25 March, STR’s Jesper Palmqvist and Isaac Collazo presented their top tips for how to benchmark most effectively as the industry recovers from the global pandemic. Index to an anchor point Go beyond last year and pick a pre-pandemic time as your benchmark comparable. For example, you could compare May 2021 data to May 2019 to look at what percentage of RevPAR you have recovered. ...
U.S. Market Recovery Monitor – 19 June 2021
STR | June 25, 2021
Are you tracking the Market Recovery Monitor each week? Utilizing data and benchmarking to navigate recovery will be a key focus of the 2021 Hotel Data Conference. Click here for registration, with both in-person and virtual options available for our 13th annual event in Nashville. Previous MRM versions: 5 June | 12 June The “summer travel surge” continued this past week as U.S. hotel occupancy hit an 85-week high at 68.0% for the week ending 19 June 2021. That is the country’s highest level since the week ending 9 November 2019. The turnaround in occupancy is above expectations. Recall, at the start of the year, occupancy wa...
Exploring Luxury Tourism Market Trends in 2021 and Beyond
Hrishikesh Kadam | June 25, 2021
By Hrishikesh Kadam From cruising, yachting, and customized private vacations to multigenerational travel, new trends in the luxury tourism industry are emerging from the global shutdown triggered by the COVID-19 crisis. As travel restrictions ease and borders reopen, travel at any level will be more precious and more exotic among people. Evidently, 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone, and in 2021, travelers are likely to plan future trips as a way to unwind, whether through celebration journeys with families and friends, wellness focused experiences, or culinary explorations. Worldwide, there is a pent-up demand for travel wi...
Mythbusters: Recovery Edition – Part One
Mark Lewis-Brown | June 25, 2021
By Mark Lewis-Brown There are lots of messages out there, in the hospitality industry now, about what hotels need to do, or what technology they need to buy, to reach recovery more quickly. Some of these messages are accurate and others… questionable. But don’t you worry… I’ve got you covered. Get ready for a thorough debunking of three common “myths” related to COVID recovery strategies. MYTH #1: Business and/or city-center hotels are dead. Truth: There is no type of hotel that can’t reach profitability, even if corporate travel and MICE business doesn’t pick back up again for years. Full stop. The road to s...
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