Trump Hotels denies Panama plea: Lawyers representing Trump Hotels on Monday responded to news reports detailing a letter the firm sent to Panama’s president, pushing back at the categorization of it as a pressure point in the business dispute. Earlier Monday, The Associated Press reported on the letter, saying lawyers at Britton & Iglesias appealed directly to Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela president for help in a dispute over a luxury Panama City hotel. The firm, representing the Trump Organization, asked Varela to intervene in the legal dispute, arguing that the courts denied the Trump Organization due process and violated a bilateral treaty. The AP reported that the letter also warned of consequences for Panama if he didn’t.
Cycas steps into France: UK-based Cycas Hospitality, one of the largest branded extended-stay hotel operators in the country, has signed its inaugural deal in France, which will see it manage the first dual-branded Hyatt property in Europe. Cycas has signed a lease agreement to operate the Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels, which are both on one site, close to Paris Charles De Gaulle airport. Cycas currently operates Hyatt Place London Heathrow Airport. The five-story building will have a total of 430 rooms – 309 at Hyatt Place and 121 at the Hyatt House extended-stay hotel – with the hotels sharing conference, extensive all-day dining/bar facilities, a gym and a large swimming pool.
Cyber attacks: Today Verizon released its 2018 Data Breach Investigations Report which found that 99% of all cyber incidents within the accommodation and food service industries were financially motivated. This year’s report analyzes more than 53,000 cybersecurity incidents and over 2,300 data breaches from over 65 countries. Accommodation and food services continue to be dominated by point-of-sale (POS) breaches, most of which are opportunistic and financially motivated. The main threat actions continue to be hacking and malware, with POS patterns accounting for 90% of all breaches.
Accor acquires ResDiary: AccorHotels completed the acquisition of Glasgow-based table reservation system, ResDiary. The company is notably well established in the Asia Pacific region as well as in the UK, and has a footprint in 60 countries globally, seating 166 million diners a year in over 8,600 venues.
Hong Kong performs strong: STR’s preliminary March 2018 data for hotels in Hong Kong indicates strong performance results.
Based on daily data from March, Hong Kong reported the following in year-over-year comparisons:
- Supply: +2.8%
- Demand: +5.5%
- Occupancy: +2.6% to 91.8%
- ADR: +13.2% to HKD1,567.57
- RevPAR: +16.1% to HKD1,439.13
Performance momentum from last year carried into Q1 for Hong Kong. According to STR analysts, continued strong demand, especially from Mainland China, is generating more near-capacity occupancy nights and driving higher ADR premiums. The absolute occupancy level would be one of the highest for any March in STR’s Hong Kong database. The ADR level is the highest for a March since 2015.
Not so great for RevPar in Jeddah: STR’s preliminary March 2018 data for hotels in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, indicates mostly negative performance due to a spike in supply.
Based on daily data from March, Jeddah reported the following in year-over-year comparisons:
- Supply: +12.9%
- Demand: -0.9%
- Occupancy: -12.3% to 48.8%
- ADR: -5.6% to SAR674.54
- RevPAR: -17.2% to SAR329.17
STR analysts note that occupancy levels have been declining significantly over the past two years due to supply growth. With room rates dropping as well, RevPAR has now decreased in the first quarter of each of the past three years.