New US occupancy peaks since August: Hotel occupancy in the U.S. peaked since mid-August although room rates fell from the previous week, as per STR’s latest data through October 19.
- Occupancy: 65% (-10%)
- ADR: US$134.03 (-1.4%)
- RevPAR: US$87.15 (-11.3%)
Week-over-week demand growth came almost exclusively from the Sunday before Columbus Day, with occupancy reaching 72% as compared with 75% in 2019. Although occupancy did not rise over 2019 in any of the top 25 markets,
Tampa came closest to its 2019 figure (-3% to 66.8%). Boosted by ADR, the market reported the largest RevPAR gain (+8.9% to US$88.87). San Francisco/San Mateo saw the steepest occupancy decline (-41.2% to 52%). Miami saw the highest ADR increase (+13.8% to US$184.58), while the largest RevPAR deficits were recorded in San Francisco/San Mateo (-62.1% to US$90.19) and New York City (-45.5% to US$163.58).
Apple Leisure’s new resort in Cozumel: Apple Leisure Group, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, announced the launch of Dreams Cozumel Cape Resort & Spa, the brand’s first resort in Cozumel, Mexico, and its 24th resort overall. The resort, part of the Dreams Resorts & Spas by AMR Collection, will feature 154 suites and is expected to open in Q1 2022. Presently, Mexico is home to 39 out of AMR Collection’s 102 resorts across six brands.
Pebblebrook acquisitions in Florida: Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, Bethesda, Maryland, announced the acquisition of the 19-key Avalon Bed & Breakfast and the 12-key Duval Gardens, both in Key West, Florida, for US$20 million. Both the hotels will be operated as part of Pebblebrook’s Southernmost Beach resort and will be managed by Highgate. Highgate currently manages Pebblebrook’s two Key West resorts, The Marker Key West Harbor Resort and Southernmost. Based on Pebblebrook’s initial investment in Duval and Avalon, the company hopes to generate a forward 12-month incremental annualized hotel net operating income of US$1.6 million to US$2.4 million, after a 4% capital reserve.
Minor to debut in Egypt: Minor Hotels, Bangkok, announced its debut in Egypt with the launch of the Oaks Egypt New Capital Apartments & Suites. Slated to open in 2025, the new-build property will consist of around 400 apartments and suites, built across two wings connected centrally at the rooftop and on the ground floor with a retail area. Construction will begin early next year. The property is owned by Margins Developments and will be located at the Egyptian New Administrative Capital, a masterplan launched by the government in 2015.
US reopening will drive business travel: Almost 74% of industry respondents were in support of the U.S. reopening borders, with 73% of them expecting a rise in international business travel in the next six months, as per a latest poll by The Global Business Travel Association. More than 52% of industry respondents reported more optimism in the business travel sector as compared to September. About 66% of respondents said their companies are permitting non-essential domestic business travel and 42% are allowing international travel, in a high for the year. About 55% of suppliers said their bookings from corporate customers increased from last month.
Small Luxury adds to China portfolio: Small Luxury Hotels of the World has added four member hotels, including three newly opened properties, to its China portfolio. The new additions include the 25-room resort Jangala Dunhuang in Dunhuang, the 11-room country house Qiushui Villa in Hangzhou, the eight-room country house Vallie Hotel in Hangzhou and the 132-room resort Yulongwan Lakeview Hotel in Kunming. The group now has 20 hotels in Greater China, including 15 in mainland China.
PE deals drive growth: Mergers & acquisitions, private equity and venture capital financing in the global travel and tourism industry increased 3.5% in September, boosted by the growth in announcement of private equity deals, according to GlobalData. A total of 59 deals were announced in the global travel and tourism industry in September compared to 57 deals in the previous month. While announcement of PE deals rose drastically by 300%, venture capital financing and M&A deals dipped 40.9% and 3.2% respectively. Deal activity improved in key markets like the U.S., South Korea and Australia, while it declined in the U.K. and China.
Final approval for St. Regis in Longboat Key: The St. Regis Hotel and Residences on Longboat Key, Florida, received the final approval to develop a resort at the site of the former The Colony and Tennis Resort. The resort is expected to have 166 rooms and 67 condos.
Highgate’s sustainability measures: Highgate has upgraded to 100% renewable electricity, beginning with most of its select-service properties and 17 full-service hotels. The initiative will be certified by Green-e Energy. As part of the initiative, all of Highgate’s participating properties, which will initially consist of Highgate-owned properties in the Highgate Select portfolio, have committed to third-party verification through Green-e for 2022. Highgate has also announced its initiative to eliminate single-use plastics, which will include removing single-use plastics in Highgate’s legacy hotel rooms, F&B outlets, meeting spaces and public spaces, and forming new partnerships with carbon-negative companies.
Crestline to manage Aloft Portland: Crestline Hotels & Resorts, Fairfax, Virginia, has been selected to manage the 157-key Aloft Portland, Maine. This marks Crestline’s third managed hotel in Portland, after the AC Hotel by Marriott Portland Downtown/Waterfront and the Residence Inn Portland Downtown/Waterfront. Crestline currently manages 128 hotels, resorts and conference centers with more than 18,700 rooms across 29 states.
USTA’s event on travel mobility: The U.S. Travel Association will host its first Future of Travel Mobility Summit on October 26 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C., which will see executives in the business, technology and transportation sectors along with policymakers and administration officials convene. The event is expected to explore issues like sustainable travel, innovative and emerging travel and secure and seamless travel. While in-person is available and limited, the event will be livestreamed.
WeWork goes public: Shares of WeWork, the shared office space company, climbed as high as 12% midday Thursday, the day the company went public through a special purpose acquisition company two years after its aborted IPO. In 2019, the company scrapped plans of an IPO after investors raised concerns over its corporate governance, business model and then-CEO and founder Adam Neumann. WeWork closed its deal to merge with BowX Acquisition, which valued the company at US$9 billion, a significant drop from the US$47 billon valuation in 2019 by SoftBank Group.