Travel to the US from the Middle East and North Africa has fallen 20 percent since President Trump signed his travel ban, a hotel chief executive said this week. The effect of the decline by travelers from these areas is outsized, as they spend much more relative to other hotel guests, sources said.
For the past 11 years, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has been carrying out an in-depth analysis of travel and tourism competitiveness of 136 economies around the world. This year has been a turbulent year in tourism. The top countries in the ranking (Spain, France, Germany) retain stability. But many countries have gone through changes in various aspects.
The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index measures “the set of factors and policies that enable the sustainable development of the travel and tourism sector, which in turn, contributes to the development and competitiveness of a country”.
It is our great pleasure to present the third edition of the Trends and Opportunities South America, an annual publication by HVS/Hotel Invest (in partnership with STR) that illustrates and analyzes the sector's performance in some of the major markets in the region.
The rapid development of modern technology introduces smartness and convenience to all aspects of our modern life and environment, including the efficient operations of private businesses, government/non- government organizations alike. With travel technologies being maximized and embedded in planned developmental goals of the Chinese government to grow and revolutionize Chinese tourism industry, the standard of living and quality of life and services is bound to improve. The total revenue of the travel and tourism industry in China is currently estimated to be valued at a whopping 3 trillion Yuan. As the sector continues to flourish the country is strategically positioned to become the world’s second largest tourism economy after the United States of America.
Mexico has been able to latch onto the global tourism explosion, and just in time. In this period of great uncertainty, due to the potential impact of the Trump era, the Mexican tourism sector – which already represents 8.5% of the country's GDP – is going through the best period in its entire history, and has become – after the manufacturing sector and remittances – the principal driving force behind the economy. It is, however, starting to show signs of stagnation. The arrival rate of foreign visitors grew by 9% in 2016, reaching 35 million people. The increase in foreign currency entering the country was 10%; and the tourism industry's account balance (dollar inflow versus dollar outflow) improved by 22% thanks to the fact that there were more foreign visitors entering the country than Mexican citizens traveling abroad.
The Brazilian Ministry of Tourism believes that the positive numbers of carnival tourism sector emphasize the importance of the holiday for the economy of all regions.
The Carnival revelry worked as a dynamo for the economy, generated jobs and attracted visitors in all regions of Brazil.
In Salvador, for instance, traditionally one of the key destinations for carnival tourism, the hotel occupancy rate reached 95% throughout the holiday season, hence generating 200 thousand temporary jobs. Bahia’s Secretariat of Tourism (Setur) estimates that 600 thousand tourists have visited the Bahian capital city, an increase of 9% in comparison with the previous year of 2016. Of these, 10% have come from abroad. 2 million visitors were registered throughout the state, a number responsible for pumping R$ 1,5 billion into the Bahian economy.
The Republic of Singapore is a metropolitan city-state and island country in Southeast Asia with a total land area of 714.3 square kilometres. It is situated at the southern tip of the Malayan Peninsula, between Malaysia and Indonesia. With an economy supported by its growing population of around 5.8 million, Singapore rose as an Asian Tiger economy and today serves as a global commerce, finance and transportation hub.
The Prefecture of Halkidiki is located in the southeastern portion of Central Macedonia and consists of a large peninsula in the northwestern Aegean Sea resembling a hand with three "fingers" – Kassandra, Sithonia, and Agion Oros which contains Mount Athos and its monasteries. Kassandra has popular tourist resorts with organized beaches. The second peninsula, Sithonia, features less organized resorts and more secluded coves. The third peninsula, Mount Athos, is a secluded monastic community where entrance is allowed only to men and after special permission. The prefecture occupies 2,918 km² of land and features approximately 105,000 permanent inhabitants.
Tucson, like much of the Southwest, has undergone a prolonged recovery since the 2008/09 recession. Tucson's hotel market realized unprecedented growth in the years leading up to 2008. But the hotel supply pipeline has been muted in recent years, and hotel performance still falls short of the prior peak. There are several factors that have affected historical hotel performance trends in Tucson, including a large amount of lower-rated government demand, which draws down the overall average rate in the market, and the relatively limited number of direct flights from Tucson International Airport. However, the extenuating circumstances behind the long-drawn recovery of Tucson's lodging market, in many ways, trace back to the performance of its resort segment.
HVS again hosted a booth at this year's Commercial Real Estate Finance (CREF)/Multifamily Housing conference, run by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). More than 3,000 mortgage and lending professionals attended the CREF conference, one of the biggest annual gatherings focused on commercial real estate assets. While hotel-specific data and discussions are only part of the overall scope at the conference, many of the insights, observations, and predictions for commercial properties also apply to hotels.
The 2nd edition of the Tourism, Hotel Investment & Networking Conference (THINC) Sri Lanka, hosted by HVS, concluded on 8 February 2017. 170 delegates, representing hotel companies and operations, banks and financial institutions, consulting firms, ownership and development, as well as architecture and design, gathered in Colombo to provide insights into the dynamic Sri Lankan hospitality and tourism industry. In addition to deliberating the prevalent trends and current performance of the hotel sector, stakeholders emphasised the vast potential of the island as well as the key challenges that lay ahead.
St. Louis is poised to enter a post-recovery phase of economic development and expansion that should continue to support the recent growth of the region's hotel market. Numerous proposed developments and business expansions are anticipated to pave the way for continued transient and extended-stay lodging demand growth. Meanwhile, the convention center is operating at new peak capacity. While the growth of hotel supply has begun to accelerate, it remains modest in comparison to most major markets across the country, and is expected to stay in check through the near term. As such, St. Louis is ripe with hotel investment opportunities, provided that buyers and developers exercise appropriate due diligence and market research to identify assets and locations that will provide fruitful returns.
2016 was a solid year for the Washington DC Metropolitan region's lodging market. According to Smith Travel Research (STR), the year-end 2016 RevPAR growth for the Washington DC MD VA region was up 4.9% over 2015, ranking it 9th of the 25 top markets it tracks. The region was 4th of 25 in terms of occupancy growth at 2.2%, but 18th of 25 in ADR growth at 2.7%. The predominance of demand tied to the Federal Government and the government lodging per diem continues to limit some of the region's pricing power. While more press is given to business and tourism demand in downtown Washington, DC, neighboring suburbs, particularly Arlington County in Virginia, and Montgomery County in Maryland, are also contributing to the region's solid growth statistics despite challenges in these suburban office markets.
Antigua, the largest island of the nation of Antigua and Barbuda, is gaining increased presence as an icon of Caribbean tourism and recreation. The island's coastal geography makes it ideal for yachting and sailing, and its deep harbor accommodates massive cruise ships, as well. The opening of the state-of-the-art VC Bird International Airport in 2015 has allowed for even more passenger traffic to Antigua, helping to raise the island's profile among destination markets in the Caribbean.
Houston is a city of DOERS, per the latest ad campaign presented by Chevron and released in advance of Super Bowl LI, held in Houston on February 5, 2017. The ad incites the can-do spirit of a city without limits. A city that is a global leader in energy and healthcare, that consistently ranks near the top for fastest growing major metro areas, and that once put a man on the moon. While the "We choose to go to the Moon" days are gone (but not forgotten), Houston's reputation as a tough, resilient, city of DOERS remains.
In square miles, Irvine is the largest city in Orange County, California. Irvine is also one of the most expansive master-planned communities in the nation, developed in the 1960s by the Irvine Company and incorporated in 1971. For consecutive years, MONEY magazine has named Irvine one of the best places in the U.S. (the city ranked 20th in 2016). Irvine also ranks as the third-best city in America for working parents. Over the past 45 years, Irvine's population has grown from 10,000 to nearly 260,000 residents.
The year 2016 brought many visitors to the Alps and to the Danube. However, for the hoteliers not everything is rosy. The start of the winter season was somewhat weak for Austria’s tourism.
The hotel industry in the Alpine republic is flourishing. Austrian hotels managed to generate 140.85 million overnight stays in 2016. This is a 4.2% increase compared to 2015. This figure is a new record for Austria’s tourism and is above the 140 million mark for the first time ever.
The Baltic Sea, Allgäu, Lake Constance – German destinations are more popular than ever. Last year a new peak of 447.3 million overnight stays in terms of domestic and foreign guests was reported. The growth of German tourism is expected to continue in 2017. Germany’s travel industry boom has no end. The number of overnight stays rose to a record value of 44.3 million. This is the sixth year in a row in which a new record had been reached.
French tourism industry is finally celebrating. After two years, tourists are back in force in France. The strong rebound, that reaches the figures from before the attacks in 2015 and 2016, benefits mainly to the urban areas and in Ile-de-France, according to INSEE (French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies). During the last three months of 2016, the amount of overnight stays showed an increase of 3.9% compared to the last quarter of 2015, after two consecutive quarters of decline, according to the Institute of Statistics. This strong rebound is more than offsetting the net decline recorded a year earlier (-1.8%) related to the impact of the attacks from January 2015.
MKG Consulting presents "Let's take a coffee brake together", several short analysis covering trends and performances regarding the hospitality sector. Today, Vanguélis Panayotis presents you hotels performances in Europe in 2016.