Office Occupancy, Sublet Data Indicate Bleak Future for Business Travel
Shift in Remote Work Negates Reasons to Travel for Business
Business-transient demand for hotels has been the slowest segment to rebound since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Jan Freitag, national director for hospitality market analytics at CoStar, believes the segment may have permanently shifted.
NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Business-transient demand for hotels has been the slowest segment to rebound since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Jan Freitag, national director for hospitality market analytics at CoStar, believes the segment may have permanently shifted.
During a session titled “The new leading indicators” at the 2022 Hotel Data Conference, Freitag said he’s pessimistic on the return of business-transient demand.
“I am very bearish on this,” he said.
Hotel occupancy in urban markets has dipped recently and is in need of a boost from weekday business travel, Freitag said, adding that office occupancy and office sublet data fuel his doubts of a recovery in business demand.