Hoteliers Cautiously Optimistic about Business Performance in 2022

“How optimistic are you about business performance over the next 12 months?” - Hoteliers’ answers to this new question, introduced in our ongoing Hotelier PULSE survey and published for the first time in the 18th Edition of the Hotelier PULSE Report, indicate the industry is cautiously optimistic about the future of business performance in Q4 and into the new year.

In this article, I share some of the main highlights of our September 2021 Hotel Business Barometer, to help your decision-making process. Just a reminder as well to all Hoteliers reading this, if you would like to contribute to our monthly industry research and get these insights each month, please click below to take our October 2021 Survey. 

Survey: Hotel Business Barometer

1. Increased Confidence in International Leisure Travel’s contribution to Hotel Recovery

International Hotel Bookings have outperformed Domestic Hotel Bookings in May, June, August, and September 2021.

As vaccination rates accelerate and the transatlantic route from Europe to the US prepares to reopen to fully vaccinated passengers from November 2021 onwards, there is a growing expectation that international travel will significantly contribute to hotel recovery. But although international travel is expected to resume with a vengeance over the coming months, the business travel segment (crucial for City Center Hotels and Groups surveyed in this report) is showing a much slower recovery.

The majority of Hoteliers surveyed in September 2021 expect domestic business travel to only reach pre-pandemic levels in 2022, and international business travel in 2023. Less than a quarter of Hoteliers surveyed expect business travel (both international and domestic) to significantly contribute to the recovery of their business.

2. Increased focus to upskill the workforce

As we enter Q4, we’re seeing a shift in the industry’s short-term strategies to overcome the recession. An increasing number of Hoteliers are ramping up efforts to create special offers to tackle new markets and to upskill their workforces, while significantly fewer Hoteliers are focused on shaping offers and incentives around the local market. This is more than likely due to the much-anticipated influx of international travel on the horizon.

3. Occupancy remains above 50% since August, while expectation to financially outperform 2020 levels in 2021 Increases

This edition also marks the second consecutive month where Hoteliers have met or exceeded the industry’s average monthly occupancy forecast. Meanwhile, the outlook on financial performance in 2021 vs 2020 continues to trend upward, and 75% of Hoteliers surveyed in September 2021 (up from 64% in August 2021) expect to increase their revenue this year in comparison to 2020.

4. Hoteliers Increase Focus on Optimizing Direct Channel Distribution

As the direct channel continues to outperform pre-pandemic levels and show the strongest recovery (both in terms of bookings and stays) the majority of Hoteliers are strongly focused on establishing their direct channels as the top source of reservations over the next 12 months.

Since the launch of this research back in April 2020, we have asked Hoteliers to rank by order of importance their long-term sales and marketing touchpoints to recover stronger in the upturn. Consistently the majority have ranked ‘The Hotel Website’ as ‘Very’ or ‘Extremely Important’ In our September 2021 survey, 91,67% of Hoteliers ranked the Hotel website as very or extremely important.

Download the October 2021 Edition of The Hotelier PULSE Report