Questex

NEW YORK (Dec. 4, 2014) ─ Attendees at this year's North America Hotel Investment Conference (NATHIC) in Chicago were encouraged to hear optimistic predictions by some of the industry's most influential leaders and investment professionals who announced positive results in all industry segments, including industrywide supply and demand.

NATHIC, part of Questex's International Hotel Investment Forum (IHIF) Summit Series, focused on hotel development, ownership and management in North America. Now in its sixth year, the event held Nov. 19-21 at the Hyatt Chicago Magnificent Mile attracted more than 275 hotel owners, developers, operators, lenders, consultants and brand executives.

A state-of-the-industry View from the Top general session panel kicked off the conference with leading hotel company executives representing every segment – from economy to luxury – agreeing that major industry fundamentals share strong growth across the board. Panelists included Jim Amorosia, CEO, G6 Hospitality; Jeff Dallas, senior vice president, Wyndham Hotel Group; Gerry Chase, president and CEO, New Castle Hotels; Michael Palmeri, senior vice president, Loews Hotels & Resorts; and Rajiv Trivedi, executive vice president and chief development officer, La Qunita Inns & Suites.

New demand drivers, including the shale oil and natural gas boom and strong demand in state capitals and college towns, have spurred expansion into new locations, the speakers said. When it comes to supply and demand, panelists agreed that industrywide numbers are positive, but what's really important are local metrics. "Really, the best places to develop are where there is population growth," Chase said, adding that those places can be outside the top 25 markets. "The worst are places where people are leaving, taxes are high and it's tougher to do business."

NATHIC speakers presented performance and pipeline data that reinforced the positive trends.

Vail Brown, STR vice president of global business development & marketing, said the industry's performance in 2014 will exceed previous highs set in 2007 and 2013. Industry performance is being achieved differently depending on the chain scale, she said. "The only way the luxury segment can continue to grow RevPAR is through rate, and they continue to do that. On the other hand, the upper-upscale and upscale segments are working on growing their occupancy, since they saw huge supply come in 2008 and 2009."

Mark Eble, vice president of PKF Consulting USA, told the audience that ADR and occupancy will be even better in the next six quarters. "We expect most RevPAR growth to come from ADR," he said. "It's a good time to own a hotel."

Industrywide, supply growth remains muted, said J.P. Ford, Lodging Econometrics senior vice president. He called 2014's projected 1.3 percent supply increase "very, very benign," adding that 1.6 percent supply growth is forecast for 2015 and 1.8 percent for 2016. Ford also reinforced the notion that the most important supply and demand metrics are local, saying: "You must know your market; we can't stress that enough."

Industry legend Jack DeBoer, founder of Residence Inn, Summerfield Suites, Candlewood Suites and Value Place hotels and apartments, presented a motivational keynote. Additionally, students from three prestigious hospitality schools participated in a heated hospitality school competition, pitching new hotel concepts to top lodging industry executives. The presentation, "Firing Squad: Where Great Ideas Are Executed," was based, in part, on ABC-TV's hit reality show "Shark Tank."

Other topics discussed at NATHIC included hotel brokerage, revenue management, asset management, equity, extended-stay opportunities, hotel construction, crowd-funding, investment opportunities in Mexico and an open discussion by the Lodging Industry Investment Council (LIIC) , a prestigious think tank of hotel owners, brokers, ­financiers and lawyers led by Mike Cahill, founder of Hospitality Real Estate Counselors.

Marilyn McHugh, who oversees NATHIC as vice president of global events for Questex Hospitality + Travel, said this year's event exceeded expectations. "As indicated by a record turnout, the event continues to build momentum each year," she said. "The program attracts attendees from around the country and addresses key developments and investment industry issues, from asset management to crowd-funding. We could not be happier about NATHIC's success and look forwarding to further evolving the program in 2015."

For more information on the North America Hotel Investment Conference, visit www.nathic.com or contact Nick Diligente at [email protected] For IHIF events, visit www.ihif.com.

Questex Hospitality + Travel, the largest multimedia organization in the world dedicated to travel and lodging, drives revenue, productivity and value-creation for these related industries through strategic investment and deal-making forums, powerful lead-generation tools, interactive online business solutions, world-class events and industry-leading publications.

Questex Travel Group, a division of Questex, serves travel marketers globally through its TravelAgentCentral.com, LuxuryTravelAdvisor.com, TravelAgentUniversity and International Meetings Review online portals. It operates the leading luxury travel booking site, FiveStarAlliance.com, publishes Travel Agent and Luxury Travel Advisor magazines and produces leisure events: Luxury Travel Exchange International, ULTRA Luxury Summit, Young Travel Leaders Conference and Hawaii Travel Exchange and MICE events: Global Meeting & Incentive Travel Exchanges and MEET and CONFEC conferences.

Questex Hospitality + Travel also provides business development, marketing and training services to national tourism organizations and destination marketing associations, hotel, gaming, resort and cruise companies, online travel agencies and travel advisors worldwide. Questex Hospitality + Travel is a division of Questex, headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts, with offices throughout the world.

Evy Apostolatos
RDR PR LLC
973-452-7208
Questex

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