Markets & Performance USA & Canada Opinion Articles

October 7, 2020

Through August, Greater Boston Lodging Market Ranks as the Hardest Hit by Pandemic

The Greater Boston market has experienced a 71% decline in room revenue through August when compared to the same time last year, the largest decline of all top-25 markets according to STR. Hotels in Boston and Cambridge, as well as those in the Greater Boston area, began to feel the effects of the ongoing pandemic in early March, before many markets around the country. Declines in lodging demand showed improvement over the summer months as there was an uptick in leisure travel, however, this began to slow towards the second half of August.

By Sebastian Colella, Vice President, Pinnacle Advisory Group

Boston & Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Opinion Article

September 18, 2020

In Jittery Times, This Asset Class is Steady

It's U.S. Open week. The top golfers in the world convene just outside New York City at Winged Foot Golf Club (no fans allowed) where they will compete for a major title and all the prestige and money that comes with it.Unlike some other golf tournaments, the U.S. Open is historically the most difficult. The rough is thicker. The greens are slicker. The stakes are higher. And the winning score—frequently above par—reflects that.

By David Eisen, Content Director, Media, Questex

United States

Opinion Article

September 11, 2020

COVID-19 Impact On US Waterparks And Waterpark Resorts

Due to COVID-19, many outdoor waterparks delayed their season openings while others have decided, or were mandated, not to open at all in 2020. Many resorts with waterparks and standalone indoor waterparks were forced to close for several months, and some have yet to reopen.

By David Sangree and Nuresh Maredia

United States

Opinion Article

September 9, 2020

Economy Extended-Stay Hotels Hold Up Best During Q2 2020

The second quarter of 2020 was the low point for the hospitality industry, as the world was gripped by the pandemic and as travel lockdowns were widespread. HVS compiled the 2020 performance statistics of brands reported by public companies for the second quarter and compared the data to second-quarter performance of 2019. The data reflect the resiliency of economy, extended-stay brands during the first months of the pandemic.

By Rodney Clough and Chelsey Leffet

United States

Opinion Article

September 8, 2020

Las Vegas COVID-19 Pandemic Update

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) reported that the number of visitors to Las Vegas in June and July of 2020 totaled 2,503,100, which represented a 65.7% decrease from 7,293,300 visitors in June and July of 2019. Visitors to Las Vegas in the year-to-date period through July 2020 totaled 11,170,700, a 55.0% decline from the 24,825,500 visitors during the same period of 2019. However, visitor numbers increased 35.0% from June 2020 to July 2020.

By Shannon Okada, Managing Director of Gaming with HVS, HVS

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

Opinion Article

September 1, 2020

Hotel Operators Adapt and Survive in 2020

Faced with the greatest declines in revenue since the 1930s, U.S. hotel operators in 2020 have demonstrated their historical ability to adapt to difficult market environments and squeeze the greatest efficiencies from their operations. Through the first six months of 2020, U.S. hotels are on track to achieve profit margins better than those observed at past comparable levels of depressed occupancy.

By Robert Mandelbaum, Director of Research Information Services, CBRE Hotels

United States

Opinion Article

September 1, 2020

Federal Per Diem: Fiscal 2020/21 & Historical Trends

Government per-diem rates are set for a number of locations, many applying to multiple regions or localities in each state. A per-diem rate is made up of three components: a lodging allowance, meals allowance, and incidental expense allowance[1]; however, this article and the data presented below focus solely on the lodging allowance. The per-diem lodging rates, which provide a maximum amount that a federal traveler can reimburse, are based on the costs of mid-priced hotels, and are set annually by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

By Chelsey Leffet, Managing Director, Northeast Leader, HVS

United States

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Radical Innovation

Opinion Article

August 26, 2020

Navy Pier Closure: A Cause for Concern?

On August 18th, Navy Pier Inc. ("NPI") announced a temporary closure beginning September 8th—immediately following Labor Day weekend. Operations are intended to resume sometime in spring 2021. Suspending operations at Navy Pier not only stops visitation, but also the operation of the 70 businesses operating on the pier. Given Navy Pier's cultural significance to the City of Chicago, such a closure is bound to draw questions about the future of all tourism amenities in the Windy City. HVS seeks to provide a quantified explanation of the effect of such a closure and what this may mean for tourist attractions in the near-term.

By Joseph Hansel, Research Analyst at HVS Convention, Sports, & Entertainment Facilities Consulting, HVS

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Opinion Article

July 13, 2020

Impact of COVID-19 on the Tucson Hotel Market

As with the rest of the country, the Tucson lodging market has been negatively affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. After reaching an all-time peak in performance in 2019, following eight years of nearly year-over-year growth, hotel performance came to a screeching halt in early March when travel restrictions began to take place around the country.

By Luigi Major, Managing Director, Advisory of HVS Americas, HVS

Tucson, Arizona, United States

Opinion Article

July 9, 2020

Hotel Industry Update: A Slower Recovery Ahead

After 10 consecutive weeks of occupancy gains, the hotel industry was in a better position than we expected six weeks prior. For the week ending on June 27, U.S. hotels reached more than 46% occupancy, more than double the low point of 22% in April.

By Jamie Lane and Bram Gallagher

United States

Opinion Article

June 18, 2020

How Rooms-Only Business Impacts a U.S. Break-Even Analysis

When a golfer hits a wayward drive, it triggers what's referred to as a provisional ball. A provisional is a second golf ball played by a golfer who believes his or her first ball (the stroke just played) may be lost, but not in a penalty area or out of bounds. A provisional is unlike a mulligan, which occurs when a golfer, unheeding of the formal rules of golf, replays a stroke — a do-over — but doesn't count it against their score. One is within the rules of the game; one is outside it.

By David Eisen, Content Director, Media, Questex

United States

Opinion Article

June 18, 2020

A Quick Review of 2019 Industry Performance

Given the extreme negative impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. lodging industry in 2020, we recognize the limited practicality of benchmarking the bleak 2020 operating performance of hotels against the relatively prosperous 2019 benchmarks. Accordingly, this year we provide a brief summary of the results of the 2020 edition of Trends® in the Hotel Industry survey. According to CBRE's 2020 edition of Trends® in the Hotel Industry, total operating revenue increased by 1.0 percent in 2019 for the average hotel in its survey sample.

By Robert Mandelbaum, Director of Research Information Services, CBRE Hotels

United States

Opinion Article

June 18, 2020

Cleveland Market Still Well-Ositioned After COVID-19

Coming into 2020, the United States hotel industry was ready to build on the record-setting performances of the past few years. In 2019, revenue per available room and average daily rate reached the highest levels ever tracked by STR. While some experts warned of oversaturation with the number of new properties built in recent years, nobody could have predicted the current state of the industry as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Adam Zarczynski, CHIA, Associate, Hotel & Leisure Advisors (H&LA)

Cleveland, Ohio, United States

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Opinion Article

June 13, 2020

The Hotel Industry’s Post-COVID-19 Recovery Could Look Like This - or Not

COVID-19 dealt the global hospitality industry a vicious blow. A Chuck Norris roundhouse kick combined with a Mike Tyson uppercut that left it immobile.

By David Eisen, Content Director, Media, Questex

United States

Opinion Article

June 11, 2020

How COVID-19 Is Eating Into Hotel Profit

COVID-19 plunged a knife in the collective heart of the global hotel industry and in one fell swoop destroyed demand, sending revenue and profit to historically low levels. This global pandemic is the most harrowing event to ever besiege the hospitality industry. As stridently as room sales have plummeted, the crash in food and beverage (F&B) is even louder. We reviewed March data to see how deeply the F&B department has cratered and what this means for Conference and Banqueting (C&B) and other areas of the profit-and-loss statement (P&L).

By David Eisen, Content Director, Media, Questex

United States

Opinion Article

April 29, 2020

An Updated 2020 Outlook - Expectations for the Year Ahead

Economic conditions are deteriorating quickly and according to Oxford Economics, theU.S. economy is in recession. Oxford predicts that, "the coronavirus pandemic will lead to a profound, pervasive, and persistent, but not permanent reductions in activity, with widespread cuts in social spending, severe disruptions to supply chains, and major interruptions in travel and tourism activity."

By Jamie Lane, Sr. Director, Economics & Forecasting, CBRE Hotels

United States

Opinion Article

April 23, 2020

Horwath HTL - 2019 USA Hotel Market - Trends & Analysis Report

The U.S. hotel industry was already set for a non-growth year. Real GDP growth, almost always a reliable indicator of hotel performance, had decelerated in 2019 for the first time in a decade due to weak capital spending, increased tariffs and slowing global growth. Similarly, 2019 RevPAR growth had decelerated from its 10-year average of 3.2% to 0.9%.

By Michael Cummings and Richard Keegan

United States

Opinion Article

April 21, 2020

Impact of COVID-19 on Los Angeles & Southern California Hotel Markets

Since December 2019, outbreaks of coronavirus (COVID-19) have led to global economic disruptions as cities and countries attempt to slow the spread of the disease by implementing lockdowns and social distancing measures. At the time of publishing this article, the number of cases in the United States and California exceeded 680,000 and 28,000, respectively. The federal government, along with state and local governments, has implemented restrictions to slow the spread of the disease, including stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders.

By Luigi Major, Managing Director, Advisory of HVS Americas, HVS

California, United States

Opinion Article

April 20, 2020

Operating Performance At Low Occupancy Levels

Since January 2020, CBRE Hotels Research has been analyzing the impact of the COVID-19 virus to understand how the societal and economic impacts of COVID-19 will influence the performance of U.S. hotels.

By Robert Mandelbaum, Director of Research Information Services, CBRE Hotels

United States

Opinion Article

April 17, 2020

HVS COVID-19 Impact on Lodging Tax Revenues

HVS modeled the anticipated RevPAR declines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on patterns of recovery following the two most recent recessions, we projected the lodging tax revenues of 24 urban markets in the United States. Comparing these projections to a baseline scenario without the pandemic, HVS estimates combined losses of 24 major U.S. markets could range from $4.0 to $5.5 billion of lodging tax revenues. Lodging tax losses of this magnitude will force bondholders, destination marketing organizations, and other stakeholders to consider steps such as debt refinancing or seeking alternative revenue streams until the hospitality industry recovers from this pandemic.

By Thomas Hazinski and Joseph Hansel

United States