AWH Partners acquires Kimpton Goodland: AWH Partners, the New York-based investment firm focused on distressed hotels, has acquired the 158-room Kimpton Goodland in Goleta, California, for US$33 million, or US$209,000 per room. AWH Partners reportedly bought the hotel from a mezzanine lender after the borrower went into default. Newport Beach, California-based Makar Properties bought the property, which was then operating as a Holiday Inn, for US$24 million in 2013. In 2014, Makar Properties reopened it as The Kimpton Goodland. In 2015, KHP Capital Partners acquired the hotel for US$57 million. AWH will refurbish and rebrand the property and its wholly-owned division, Spire Hospitality, will manage.
NYC hotel, tourism jobs on slow recovery path: The hotel and tourism industry and retail sectors of New York City are not likely to recover the lost pre-pandemic jobs for the next three to four years, according to New York state Governor Kathy Hochul’s economic revenue and forecast submitted with her US$216 billion budget. The state budget director said that the leisure and hospitality industry lost 30% of its jobs during the pandemic “and are recovering the slowest.” “At this pace, the State is projected to reach its pre-pandemic February 2020 peak by 2024,” the forecast said. New York state is expected to recover an additional 5.6% of its lost jobs this year.
Ginger adds ninth property in Delhi-NCR: Ginger Hotels, the Mumbai-based subsidiary of The Indian Hotels Co. Ltd. (IHCL), is expanding further into the Delhi National Capital Region (Delhi-NCR) with the signing of its ninth hotel in Greater Noida. The 72-room Ginger Greater Noida will include Ginger’s signature design rooms, Café Etcetera and two conference rooms. The hotel, which is currently operating, will soon be relaunched as a Ginger. With this hotel, IHCL will have 17 properties in Delhi-NCR and two under development. Currently, there are 84 Ginger hotels in 52 cities, which includes 29 under development.
Sixth Street acquires in Italy: Sixth Street, San Francisco, California, in partnership with London-based Eidos Partners, has completed the acquisition of the 92-key Le Palme Hotel & Resort in Porto Cervo on the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, Italy. This marks Sixth Street’s first acquisition in Italy, following the purchase of five hotels in Spain in December 2021. Eidos Partners will serve as the operational asset manager, with both companies redeveloping the 17,000 square meter property into a 5-star resort. The resort is slated to reopen in 2024. Both companies are yet to zero in on a hotel management company for the property. Gianni & Origoni, Legance, and EY were advisors to Sixth Street.
Valor adds to UK portfolio: Valor Hospitality Partners, Atlanta, Georgia, announced it has been appointed to manage the 240-bed Courtyard by Marriott Edinburgh, marking the hotel management company’s first property in the city. The 4-star hotel is the first Courtyard branded hotel in Valor’s portfolio and the latest Marriott brand that the company has managed since its launch of the first two AC by Marriott hotels in the U.K. in 2016. Valor saw significant growth in the U.K. in 2021 as it doubled its portfolio in the country after 17 IHG hotels were placed under its management. Valor also added two new luxury hotels in development in golf resorts St. Andrews, Scotland, and Dunluce, Northern Ireland. Valor currently operates around 40 hotels in the U.K. and 85 properties globally.
AHLA Foundation’s campaign to address labor crisis: The AHLA Foundation is launching ‘A Place to Stay,’ a new nationwide digital advertisement campaign to help fill thousands of open job vacancies in the U.S. The effort seeks to attract job seekers and help them discover careers, while infusing a new and diverse talent pool in the industry. The campaign will first be launched in five markets — Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Miami, and Phoenix. Initially targeting underemployed and unemployed job seekers, the campaign will feature a new website, bilingual streaming audio, digital display banners, advertisements on social media and more. As part of the initiative, AHLAF has introduced a new website — TheHotelIndustry.com — and is running nationwide advertisements in English and Spanish to attract people to apply for jobs. The campaign is expected to grow into a bigger, nationwide campaign throughout the year.
HFTP, HSMAI renew partnership: The Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) and the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) have renewed their strategic partnership to collaborate on industry advancing initiatives. This deal will continue through 2024 and include the addition of the Technology Innovation entry category in the HSMAI Adrian Awards. The inaugural winner of the category will be announced this spring. HSMAI will also co-locate its Commercial Strategy Week events at HFTP’s HITEC North America in Orlando on June 27-30. Under the HFTP-HSMAI agreement, attendees to the HSMAI co-located events will be provided with a complimentary HITEC Exhibits Pass.
Tourism in Spain likely to revive in spring: Tourism in Spain is expected to revive in spring, after the slowdown caused by the Omicron variant, with overall travelers in 2022 likely to be more than two-thirds of record 2019 levels. In 2019, Spain was the world’s second most visited country, with a record 80 million tourists visiting, as per official figures. In 2021, figures reached only a third of the 2019 figures, although that was still roughly 55% higher than in 2020. Spain expects tourism to revive from Easter, with the southern region of Andalusia preparing to celebrate Easter week with its famed procession after two years of canceled festivities. Spanish hotel chains have also registered a rise in bookings and tourism officials anticipate a rise in travel from European countries like the U.K., Germany, France and Holland in spring and summer.