Friday 3 July 2009 | Hungary For A Hard Rock Hotel | Meridia Capital Cools Down With A Lot of Lolly | Rezidor’s Royal Visit To Moscow | A New Scandic Hotel For Oslo | Portugal's First Crowne Plaza | A Recipe For Perfection | A Hilton To Reside In Qatar | Park Hyatt Says Hello To Saudi Arabia And Hilton Opens A New Garden Inn | A Four Points By Sheraton For Mauritius | Southern Sun Shines On Johannesburg | Kiessling’s Corner

Wednesday 1 July 2009 | Forecasts from the May 2009 Hotel Market Forecast report from STR Global, the leading provider of market information to the world’s hotel industry, indicate that average daily rate declines during the next 24 months across Germany’s major cities will be the main cause of the industry’s sluggish performance. Just as positive recent data from Germany’s Ifo business climate index on the prospects for the German economy is tempered with on-going fears of further job losses, limited improvements in hotel occupancy during the next two years are offset by the rate declines. See the chart below. Even in those cities such as Hamburg and Munich where there are expectations of modest increases in occupancy of up to 2 percent and 3 percent in 2010, respectively, the forecasted decreases in room rate are 6 to7 percent.

Tuesday 30 June 2009 | Since its peak of 10,781 projects/1,819,486 rooms in Q2 2008, the Total Global Construction Pipeline has decreased 16% and 17%, respectively, to 9,108 projects/1,502,497 rooms at the end of Q1 2009. The world’s two largest Pipe¬lines show the steepest rates of decline, with the US falling 16% by projects and 21% by rooms and Asia Pacific down 18% by projects and 16% by rooms.

Monday 29 June 2009 | In the battle for domestic travel dollars during the year ahead, the just-released Ypartnership/Yankelovich 2009 National Travel MONITOR(SM) reveals that the West is likely to win, with the South not far behind. When asked about their interest in visiting specific regions across the country during the next two years, more than seven in ten (72%) leisure travelers said they'd like to visit the western region of the United States, followed by the South with 62 percent (62%), the Northeast with 33 percent (33%) and the Midwest with 21 percent (21%). Interest in the West and Northeast has decreased since 2008, however, while the appeal of the South and Midwest remained consistent.

Monday 29 June 2009 | Principal Hayley Appears At The New Connaught Rooms | Plenty More Choice In Stockholm | Heathrow Lands Europe's Largest Holiday Inn Express | Park Inn Heads For Tete, Mozambique | Mövenpick's Adventures With Ulysse Will End In November | Macdonald Hotels Takes Full Ownership Of Aviemore Highland Resort | Kiessling's Corner | Save Time And Money At The International Hotel Conference

Thursday 25 June 2009 | In May 2009, occupancy levels in the London hotel market increased by 1.5 percentage points compared with May 2008. Whilst average room rate declined by 5.4%, London hoteliers were able to decrease their payroll expenses by 1.6%, resulting in a decline of just 2.9% in profit per available room (IBFC). “The ability of London hotels to achieve occupancy levels in excess of 80% despite the recession reflects the strength of demand in the city” said Jonathan Langston, managing director, TRI Hospitality Consulting. “Additionally, London hoteliers have maintained a tight control over payroll expenses as a response to reduced revenue levels, reflecting the flexibility of the British workforce relative to several continental European countries.”

Thursday 25 June 2009 | In year-over-year measurements, the industry's occupancy fell 11.8 percent to end the month at 55.7 percent. Average daily rate dropped 9.8 percent to finish the month at US$97.03. Revenue per available room for the month decreased 20.4 percent to finish at US$54.05.

Thursday 25 June 2009 | The impact of the recession on UK hotels lessened slightly in May, according to the latest HotStats survey by industry experts, TRI Hospitality Consulting. The rate of decline in occupancy is slowing. For the first 5 months of this year occupancy at UK hotels was down 3.7 points but for May it was down 2.7 points. The decline in rate was slightly more but this was not enough to make the decline in RevPAR worse. RevPAR was down 10.9% in May and down 11.8% for the first 5 months. Most importantly, profit, as measured by income before fixed charges, was down 18.1% for the first 5 months but down significantly less at 12.6% for the month of May.

Wednesday 24 June 2009 | When close competitors cut their prices, the temptation for hotel operators is to follow with reductions of their own. While that strategy may increase occupancy, it reduces revenue per available room (RevPAR), when compared to a hotel’s competitive group. This is the key finding of a new study from Cornell's Center for Hospitality Research, “Competitive Pricing in Uncertain Times,” by Cathy A. Enz, Linda Canina, and Mark Lomanno.

Tuesday 23 June 2009 | The U.S. hotel industry posted declines in all three key performance measurements during May, according to data from STR. In year-over-year measurements, the industry’s occupancy fell 11.8 percent to end the month at 55.7 percent. Average daily rate dropped 9.8 percent to finish the month at US$97.03. Revenue per available room for the month decreased 20.4 percent to finish at US$54.05.