Financial impact survey of reduced business travel: Around 52% of finance managers said it was very or extremely likely that their industry would see a boom in business travel by this year-end, with 73% business travelers agreeing with the same, according to a January research by SAP Concur, a T&E tech platform. About 62% expected to see a rise in their own business travel as compared to 2021. Most organizations have yet to completely lay the groundwork for a return to business travel, despite high demand and the likelihood of reviving this year. According to the survey, 88% of finance managers said their company suffered revenue loss in the last year as a direct result of employees’ inability to travel at pre-pandemic levels. Around 44% said their organization needs a rise in business travel to stay viable beyond this year, while 35% said the same for their career and 30% said the same for their entire industry.
Direct international flights resume in Bali: Direct international flights have resumed in Bali after almost two years as Indonesia reopens the island to international travelers with mandatory quarantine requirements. Fully vaccinated travelers will have to quarantine for five days in a hotel or on a lie-aboard boat certified by the government, while travelers who have got a single dose of vaccine will have to quarantine for seven days. The reopening of the airport is expected to be a “trial” as the government readies to host G20 events in Bali later in the year.
Hyatt House sells in Nashville: Amid rising demand in the Nashville metro area, Songy Highroads in late December sold to OTO Development for an undisclosed price the 201-room Hyatt House Nashville at Vanderbilt – its first full-cycle development and ownership of a property in joint venture with Hyatt Hotels Corp. The privately held real estate development and investment firm and Hyatt jointly chose the site for the Hyatt House, spent 18 months developing it and operated the property for about three years. The two have since jointly developed the Hyatt Place Atlanta Centennial Park and Hyatt Centric Buckhead Atlanta.
Pathfinder adds 2 Wyndhams: Austin, Texas-based Pathfinder Hospitality has added two Wyndham-branded hotels to its management portfolio — the 55-key La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Brookshire – West Katy, and the 155-key Wyndham Garden Houston Willowbrook. This marks the seventh and eighth hotel additions managed by Pathfinder.