Author

Philip Bacon

Senior Director, Head of Planning & Development and Valuation at Horwath HTL

Philip Bacon has comprehensive experience over more than 30 years in all aspects of hotel and branded residential development and operations, including 10 years’ hospitality consulting experience in valuations, feasibility studies, operator search, asset management and strategic business planning to owners, lenders and operators across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.

Planning is Everything; the Plan is Nothing

This quotation is usually attributed to former US President Dwight Eisenhower. He meant it in a military context. When the wolves at the door are soldiers (or even heavily armed and bizarrely-dressed "Republicans"), your plan may have to change rapidly and radically, but you must have one, and you must be clear about where your plan is taking you.

Opinion 3 February

Is the wolf scratching at the door? Lessons learned so far from the COVID era...

Our key learning in 2020 as hotel brokers was the value of being nimble, allowing us to pivot and refocus our resources very quickly. As a large part of the transactions market froze, we transitioned from a number of forward-sale deals with developers to working with hotel operators needing to free up capital from owned assets, particularly in the resort market.

In Step: Owners and Operators moving forward, together (or not)

There is no magic wand or a specific solution that fits all situations today. Regardless of the type of contractual relationship the parties should be communicating on a regular basis and working together to find the solutions that work for both parties if their relationship is to stand the test of time.

2020 Hotel Transactions and RevPAR

As travel becomes more accessible, it makes sense that lodging options need to grow, thus transactions increase. RevPAR may not follow this ongoing growth, yet a savvy investor will know that other KPIs, like guest satisfaction and overall profitability are more important long-term metrics to look at.

SPAIN - a 2014 snapshot, and business scenarios for 2015 and beyond

Every year, the hotel experts and analysts at Horwath HTL worldwide produce a series of mini-country reports exclusively for The Hotel Yearbook. Each report focuses on just two things: first, a quick snapshot of the country’s current economic and hotel market situation, and second, the outlook for the year ahead, highlighting specific events that are anticipated to have an impact on the health of the country’s hotel business.