Opinion Articles

Central Oregon: Evolution of Trends Post-Pandemic

Central Oregon is a drive-to destination market situated east of the Cascade Mountain range. Home to twelve cities, this region of Oregon benefits as a popular leisure destination for travelers from throughout the Pacific Northwest. Surrounded by a diverse natural landscape, Central Oregon welcomes nearly four million overnight visitors per year looking to take advantage of all the area has to offer. In recent years, cities throughout the region have seen significant changes in the travel industry as hotels, businesses, and attractions have weathered the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hotel Property Tax Relief Varies By Geography

Based on a sample of more than 3,000 hotels from CBRE’s Trends® in the Hotel Industry database, U.S. hotel property tax expenditures averaged $2,626 per available room (PAR) in 2022. This is 10.8% less than the $2,943 PAR recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Concurrently, the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for these same properties fell by 1.7%.

Albany's Hotel Industry: A Bright Outlook

Albany's hotel industry continues to rebound from the pandemic. This article reviews the performance and recent trends of two distinct Albany submarkets and the market’s extended-stay hotel segment. Through this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of Albany’s performance coming out of the pandemic.

2023 HVS Lodging Tax Report - USA

Since room sales generate lodging tax revenues, an overview of hotel market trends provides a perspective on the industry's current and future fiscal impacts. While the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were unprecedented, as documented in our 2022 HVS Lodging Tax Study, nearly all lodging markets have reached or exceeded pre-COVID levels of revenue generation. Revenue per available room (“RevPAR”), the product of average daily room rate and occupancy rate, is a standard industry metric that combines the effects of occupancy and average daily room rate changes on hotel revenue performance. The figure below compares the amounts of RevPAR in the 25 US urban markets for each month from January 2019 through July 2023.

Conroe, Texas: North Houston’s Emerging “Leading Lady”

Conroe provides small-town living while located only 40 miles north of Houston, the fourth-largest city in the country. This quaint city is currently having a resurgence and is considered one of the fastest-growing cities in Texas. Conroe has a reported population of 103,035 as of August 31, 2023, a 36% increase from 2013, and it is only projected to grow. The town has ample land for new development, and the recent improvements are heavily influenced by the city development model of The Woodlands just ten miles south.With this location near The Woodlands and so much available land, Conroe is starting to experience spillover from that city and become popular as a "bedroom community," resulting in additional residential development. One such project in the city is the highly anticipated Grand Central Park, a 2,046-acre residential community development along Interstate 45 and South Loop 336, just five miles north of The Woodlands.

The Rebounding San Diego Lodging Market Attracts Investor Interest

In 2022 and the first half of 2023, San Diego hotels experienced unprecedented RevPAR growth, similar to much of California, as markets recovered from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, hotel development and transactions have been strong. However, construction of full-service hotels remains challenging amid a steep rise in development costs.

Recovery and Expansion of the Jersey Shore Hotel Market

Known for its beautiful beaches stretching along the Atlantic Ocean, the Jersey Shore comprises four diverse counties, each with its own distinct character and attractions. Featuring all types of lodging, from economy motels to luxury beachfront resorts, the Jersey Shore is a hot spot for many leisure travelers seeking a coastal getaway during the summer months.

The Florida Panhandle Remains a Top-Tier Destination

The Florida Panhandle remains popular among hotel developers and investors given the strength of the market in the post-pandemic period. An easy-to-reach destination for drive-to and out-of-state travelers alike, this Gulf Coast region has been a hotbed of activity for construction and transactions in the traditional-model hotel space since the summer of 2020.

Slow but Steady Recovery for the Silicon Valley Lodging Market

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Silicon Valley has experienced drastic changes including the shift to remote work policies, the exodus of several major companies, and the widespread layoffs in Q4 2022 and Q1 2023. The table below summarizes recent layoffs and remote work policies at major companies in Silicon Valley.

Louisville, KY Hotel Market: Room to Grow

Since 2020, the Louisville hotel market has seen an increase in leisure travel associated with bourbon tourism, its nearby universities, and the Kentucky Derby. It is because of these large demand generators that the market has been able to recover most of its occupancy-based COVID-19 losses. Commercial travel has also helped to bolster the market. As employees have begun to return to offices and as business travel has increased, demand within this segment has improved.