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
Hotels Projected to End 2021 Down $59 Billion in Business Travel Revenue
AHLA | September 15, 2021
WASHINGTON – September 15, 2021 – The hotel industry is projected to end 2021 down more than $59 billion in business travel revenue compared to 2019, according to a new report released today by the American Hotel & Lodging Association and Kalibri Labs. That comes after losing nearly $49 billion in business travel revenue in 2020. Business travel is the hotel industry’s largest source of revenue and has been slow to return since the onset of the pandemic. Business travel includes corporate, group, government, and other commercial categories. Business travel revenue is not expected to reach pre-pandemic levels until 2024. The ne...
London Shows Highest Hotel Performance Since Start of the Pandemic
STR | September 13, 2021
LONDON — September 13, 2021 — STR’s preliminary August 2021 data showed London with its highest hotel performance levels since the start of the pandemic. Occupancy: 56.8% Average daily rate (ADR): GBP112.58 Revenue per available room (RevPAR): GBP63.97 The absolute occupancy and RevPAR levels were the highest in the market since February 2020, while the ADR level was the highest since March 2020. At the same time, performance remained well below the pre-pandemic comparables from August 2019: occupancy (86.2%), ADR (GBP150.39) and RevPAR (GBP129.59). All of STR’s COVID-19 analysis can be found ...
MMGY Reveals How the Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Say They Will Travel Heading Into the Holiday Season
MMGY Travel Intelligence | September 10, 2021
The majority of both groups are making plans, but how they travel may differ KANSAS CITY, MO (September 10, 2021) – MMGY Travel Intelligence, MMGY Global’s research and insights division, has released the findings from the 2021 “Fall Edition” of its Portrait of American Travelers® survey fielded in late July. The report highlights continuing strength in traveler sentiment, including high expectations for holiday travel. It also reveals the vast majority of vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers are planning trips in the months ahead, but the types of trips they are planning are different. Americans’ intent to take a vacation...
Tourism After Lockdown: Hotel Guests Expect Normal in the New Normal
STR | September 10, 2021
The Delta variant continues to disrupt the reopening of economies in many parts of the world and, indeed, some countries are grappling with previously unseen levels of infections. Consequently, a challenge with tourism right now is responding to the evolving needs of consumers. Vaccination progress has enabled international travel to restart in some countries, and after months of restrictions, many consumers have dusted off their passports to enjoy an eagerly awaited break. However, a key question remains: what are the needs and expectations of travelers as we adapt to coexisting with the virus? July 2021 research among a sample of global...
AHLA Applauds Enhancements to Loan Program for Hoteliers
AHLA | September 10, 2021
WASHINGTON – September 10, 2021 – The White House yesterday announced the expanded COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, giving qualified hoteliers access to up to $2 million per loan. The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has been working with Biden Administration and Small Business Administration officials for months to secure EIDL changes that would benefit hoteliers. Changes announced yesterday include: Raising the loan cap to $2 million per loan Raising the aggregate loan cap to $10 million Simplifying the affiliation rules Allowing 24 months of deferred payment Allowing use of fun...
Expedia Group Shares Fall Travel Outlook
Expedia Group | September 9, 2021
Summer brought promise of a travel boom in the U.S., with COVID-19 restrictions easing and vaccination rates rising. International destinations welcomed Americans back, and the sheer amount of people boarding planes was above and beyond expected. Then, swiftly, the Delta variant swept through the states, and many started to wonder if we’d ever get back to precedented times. Still, the desire to travel remained strong. We are in the midst of a shift from “when will the pandemic end?” to “how do we learn to adapt?” And, as we head into the fall, the question isn’t whether people will travel — it’s how they’ll travel. We du...
The Road Ahead for Hotels in 2022 and Beyond
Robert A. Rauch | September 8, 2021
By Bob Rauch Before we jump into 2022 plans, please take the quick survey/debate above of how you view the business and feel free to opine on why. Answers will appear on sided.co and on the hotelguru.com website. Hotel Industry Post-Pandemic The number of areas of responsibility that fall under a hotelier is hard for other businesses to imagine. Development, acquisition, finance, operations, customer service, restaurant, bar, maintenance, sales, marketing, revenue management and much more. The businesses churn guests daily and requires real time daily decision making. As we look toward 2022, what should we look at? Be...
Ten Ways for Hotels to Welcome Back Guests Post Pandemic… and Profit!
CICERO CONSTRUCTION GROUP | September 8, 2021
PLAINFIELD, IL - September 8, 2021 - With travel resuming, hotel owners and managers are looking past months of lockdowns and hundreds of cancellations to a brighter future. Finding ways to offer a safe guest experience, while also boosting revenue is key to the path forward economic recovery. To give your hotel some needed "bounce" in its bounce back, consider these ideas from Cicero Construction Group, a general contractor specializing in hotel renovations. Careful attention to cleanliness. Cleanliness has always been a key consideration in the hotel industry. Even prior to the pandemic, properties were moving toward hard surfac...
MythBusters: Delta Edition
MARK LEWIS-BROWN | September 2, 2021
By Mark Lewis-Brown As I mentioned in Part One and Part Two of this article, there are many mixed messages floating around in the hospitality industry about how/what hoteliers need to do to become profitable in the “new normal” that we’re all facing. Unfortunately, things just got EVEN more confusing… With the wide spread of the Delta Variant, around most US states – and most of the world – the recovery phase of the COVID-19 pandemic is again changing, and hotels must update their operational strategies accordingly, to ensure their guests remain as safe as possible. But to make sure that you’re taking the best, ...
67% of Business Travelers to Reduce Trips Amid Rising COVID-19 Cases
AHLA | August 31, 2021
Most Are Likely to Cancel Existing Trips Without Rescheduling WASHINGTON (August 31, 2021) – U.S. business travelers are scaling back travel plans amid rising COVID-19 cases, with 67% planning to take fewer trips, 52% likely to cancel existing travel plans without rescheduling, and 60% planning to postpone existing travel plans, according to a new national survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA). Despite an uptick in leisure travel over the summer, the new survey highlights the dim outlook for business travel and events, which account for more than half of hotel revenue and...
U.S. Travel Reacts to EU Travel Restriction Recommendation
U.S. Travel Association | August 31, 2021
WASHINGTON (August 31, 2021)—U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes issued the following statement on news that the European Union recommends removing the United States from its list of countries for which travel restrictions should be lifted: “This is a disappointing development following the boost in inbound visitation by vaccinated travelers that many E.U. countries experienced this summer. It’s a setback despite the uptake in vaccinations—the tool that’s highly effective against the variants—which are on the rise on both sides of the Atlantic. “Travel is a cru...
Tourism After Lockdown: A New Standard of Accommodation Preferences?
STR | August 31, 2021
Despite continued challenges due to the Delta variant, many countries around the world, thanks to successful vaccination programs, have started to relax travel restrictions and social distancing requirements. As a result, more travelers can now explore beyond their locality. But, as restrictions have relaxed and different parts of the world have become more accessible, what changes can be seen in consumer accommodation preferences? To answer this and other questions as COVID-19 continues to disrupt travel, STR’s Tourism Consumer Insights team has kept a close eye on tourism trends throughout the pandemic. In this recent wave of re...
Hotel Profit Climbs Higher, but Could Delta Derail It?
HotStats | August 31, 2021
Global hotel performance is improving month by month. That’s the good news. The more pressing concern is if it will remain that way. The hotel industry remains fragile, dodging each and every new impediment thrown its way. The newest snag has been the Delta variant, which has caused COVID cases to spike in many areas and thrown a wrench into the gradual rebound. Just this week, the European Union recommended that Americans be banned from nonessential travel to its member states after a rise in case counts in the U.S. This as the U.S. remains off limits to most European travelers. Still, the hotel industry presses forward. U.S. ...
India’s Different, Second Recovery
STR | August 30, 2021
India’s progressive approach to vaccinations has led to an increase in travelers and hotel demand, especially in the leisure segment. Beyond the noticeable improvement, however, the country is showing a different trend in which markets are regaining occupancy. As noted in a recent press release, India’s recovery after the first COVID-19 wave was concentrated in leisure destinations such as Goa and Udaipur. But in this latest round of recovery, heavily populated markets and metro cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai have seen much improvement. Performance timeline India’s monthly occupancy reached a pandemic-era high in...
Upholding Traveler Confidence – the First Step in the Road to Recovery
Mandeep S Lamba | August 23, 2021
By Mandeep S Lamba, Dipti Mohan Traveler confidence is improving post the second wave, renewing hopes of a recovery for the travel and hospitality sectors. Domestic aviation traffic has been steadily increasing month after month, growing by 47% in June 2021 (compared to May 2021) and 61% in July 2021. The surge in demand has even prompted the ministry of civil aviation to increase domestic airline seat capacity to 72.5% of pre-COVID levels from 65% earlier. The aviation industry has gone to extraordinary lengths, especially after the second wave, to re-establish passenger confidence and reassure them that it is once again "safe to fly"...
ALIS in Wonderland
Jon Peck | August 23, 2021
By Jon Peck I recently returned from the ALIS (Americas Lodging Investment Summit) conference in Los Angeles, and it felt a little falling down the rabbit hole for two reasons: 1) It felt strange (but energizing) to be around so many people again. 2) The high-quality slate of presenters was generally upbeat and optimistic when I expected to see despairing looks after more than a year of jaw-dropping RevPAR’s and ongoing forbearance discussions (and pleading) with lenders. One of the more memorable quotes from Alice in Wonderland was by the Queen who quipped, “Why sometimes I believe as many as six impossible things before brea...
Tourism After Lockdown: Current Travel Barriers
STR | August 19, 2021
Regions around the world continue to see increased pandemic-related challenges, with the situation varying greatly by country. Fortunately, more than 4.6 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered in more than 190 countries, providing the tourism and hospitality industry a much-needed confidence boost, especially during the current summer months. However, with the increase in cases in many parts of the world resulting in new and extended restrictions, as well as the emergence of new virus variants, predicting future travel demand remains challenging. Are the twists and turns of the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to infli...
Asia Pacific: Hotel Performance Ups and Downs
STR | August 16, 2021
The Asia Pacific region has seen increasing challenges through the first seven months of 2021, with situation varying greatly by country. While India has been steadily recovering from its latest outbreak, Australia and Indonesia are now facing new restrictions. Mainland China, which was already at 2019 performance levels, has seen new cases arising and performance dipping. Southeast Asia has been mostly quiet, but there is hope in the Phuket Sandbox program, which allows vaccinated foreign tourists to enter the island without the same level of restrictions as those unvaccinated. Continued diversity Although Asia Pacific ...
Visiting Friends and Relatives Will Be a Driving Force Behind Travel’s Recovery
GlobalData | August 13, 2021
A desire to reconnect with family and friends after a year of stringent lockdown measures due to COVID-19 is likely greater than a leisure getaway in 2021, and therefore its power should not be underestimated in travel’s recovery, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. Johanna Bonhill-Smith, Travel & Tourism Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “GlobalData’s forecasts suggest that visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel will experience higher growth, with a 17% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2021-25, compared to leisure, growing at a 16.4% increase between the same time period. While VFR ...
STR & TE Lift 2021 U.S. Hotel Forecast, Lessen Growth Projections for 2022
STR | August 12, 2021
NASHVILLE — August 12, 2021 —Just released at the 13th Annual Hotel Data Conference, STR and Tourism Economics have upgraded the U.S. hotel forecast for 2021 as a whole and lessened growth projections for 2022. Additionally, full recovery of demand remains on the same timeline for 2023, while revenue per available room (RevPAR) is projected to surpass 2019 levels in 2024. “Rather than improved expectations for the coming months, our upward revision for 2021 more reflects the surge in demand that has already occurred as well as room rates hitting an all-time high on a nominal basis,” said Amanda Hite, STR’s president. “As we h...
A Small Hotel on the Frontlines With the Delta Variant
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | August 11, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky The delta variant is slowly but inevitably absorbing the news cycle heading into Autumn 2021 as cases swell across the world and governments take pre-emptive measures to stop a fourth wave of COVID-19 from triggering another round of economically harmful lockdowns. Even though all of us yearn for this pandemic to be over, sadly we’re still very much in uncharted water. Given this uncertainty, all hoteliers can really do is react and pivot as quickly as possible. Here is one such case study we’ve been authorized to report upon so that you can see how a small hotel handles the situation on the ground and i...
AHLA Secures Changes to Hotel Loan Program, Up to $2 Million Per Property
AHLA | August 11, 2021
WASHINGTON – August 11, 2021 – The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), the Biden Administration and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) collaborated over the last several months to expand and improve the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program for the hotel industry, which was heavily impacted by COVID 19. The ongoing dialogue led to an increase in the cap on total loan amounts and a waiver of affiliation rules to ensure hotels can benefit from long term, low interest rates. AHLA has been working with Biden Administration and SBA officials for months to secure the changes, which would directly bene...
STR: Australia Hotel Occupancy on a Steep Decline Amid Latest COVID-19 Lockdowns
STR | August 6, 2021
LONDON — August 6, 2021 — After being one of the highest-performing countries during the early portion of 2021, Australia’s hotel occupancy has been on a rapid decline amid the latest COVID-19 lockdowns across the country, according to data from STR through 1 August. “New and extended restrictions amid the latest outbreaks have undoubtedly affected performance in recent weeks,” said Matthew Burke, STR’s regional manager for the Pacific region. “Although winter is likely a precipitating factor for some of the decline, these new restrictions across state borders have meant that a lot of travel is simply not possible. We noted ...
Knowland Reports U.S. Meetings and Events Volume Growth of 42.1 Percent for July 2021
KNOWLAND | August 5, 2021
Major meeting markets of Chicago, Orlando and Washington DC show top meeting growth indicating the start of the rebound for flagship event cities ARLINGTON, Va. — August 5, 2021 — Knowland, the world’s leading provider of data-as-a-service insights on meetings and events for hospitality, today released monthly meetings and events data for July. The numbers reveal that July U.S. group meetings volume increased 42.1 percent over June 2021. The average number of attendees per event continues with growth patterns exceeding the same time frame in 2019. Each month this number has increased as people become more comfortable meeting in larg...
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