Most hoteliers are looking to surpass budgetary predictions for RevPAR and GOP this year. While there remain some concerns regarding issues like demand and cost increases, the overall outlook from the hospitality asset management perspective appears to be positive, said Derrick Yee, CHAM, HAMA president and Placemakr vice president of asset management.
The Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA) has announced the results of its latest Industry Outlook Survey. Conducted along with HAMA’s 2023 Annual Fall Meeting, the semi-annual updated the opinions, forecasts and experiences of around 80 hotel asset managers from the previous conference survey, conducted in spring, focusing on budgetary predictions and potential causes of industry concern.
A total of 77 asset managers, consisting of one-third of HAMA members, participated in the Fall 2023 Industry Outlook Survey.
According to the survey, more than 30% of the respondents said they predicted their hotels to surpass the 2023 budgeted RevPAR, and 61% predicted forecast RevPAR jumps this year compared to 2019.
While nearly 40% of the respondents said their full-service and above hotels were predicted to surpass this year’s budgeted GOP by 0-25%, more than 50% said their resorts were likely to surpass the 2023 budgeted GOP.
With less than 60% of the respondents said they expect RevPAR to return to 2019 levels in the U.S. by 2024, about 50% predicted RevPAR to return to pre-pandemic levels in the top 25 markets by the next year.
In an indication of improving investments in the hospitality sector, more than 70% of the hotel asset managers said they were actively pursuing acquisitions, with close to 30% of the participants stating they expect a 0-10% acquisition price discount for full-service and luxury hotels compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The survey found that more than 70% of the respondents had implemented cost containment/contingency plans for this year.
Wage increases, demand and availability of labor emerged as the leading concerns among hotel asset managers. Respondents said they were also worried about increased insurance costs and the growth of ADR.
Almost two-thirds of the respondents (63.64%) believed the country would avoid a recession in the next two years. Almost 80% of the hotel asset managers said less than 25% of their total portfolio would need debt refinancing in the next nine to 12 months.
Members of HAMA are engaged in asset management, acquisition, financing and disposition of hotels and resorts. In the U.S., HAMA members represent over 3,500 properties across major brands, totaling 775,000 hotel rooms, 250,000 employees, $40 billion in annual revenue and $3 billion in capital expenditures. HAMA also has 245 additional international affiliate members.