Reports

HVS Market Pulse: Charlotte, NC

Charlotte, North Carolina, is one of the biggest cities in the southeast, second only to Jacksonville, Florida, by population, and among the top three fastest-growing metro areas in the U.S. Home to two professional sports franchises (the NBA's Charlotte Hornets and the NFL's Carolina Panthers), NASCAR's Sprint Cup and All-Star stock car races, and numerous museums, Charlotte enjoys a strong base of leisure demand. Commercial and meeting/group demand are strong in the city, as well.

By Patricia Shih, Director, HVS

Charlotte, North Carolina, United States

HVS Lodging Tax Report - USA 2017

In this sixth annual Lodging Tax Study, HVS Convention, Sports, and Entertainment Consulting surveys lodging tax rates and revenues across the United States. Our study includes a broad range of cities and tracks policy trends in lodging tax impositions. This research identifies the lodging tax rates levied at the state, county, city, and special district levels. We provide data on the collection and distribution of revenue from lodging taxes levied in all 50 States and the 150 largest cities in the United States.

By Alex Moon and Thomas Hazinski

United States

U.S. Hotel Demand Hits an All-Time High

Hotel demand has just reached an all-time high in the U.S., according to CBRE Hotels' Americas Research. Occupancy levels and demand for rooms are also buoyant in Europe and Asia Pacific.

By Richard Barkham, Ph.D., Global Chief Economist, CBRE Hotels

United States

Hurricane Harvey will send ripples through U.S. hotel industry, expert says - usatoday.com

Hurricane Harvey put a big asterisk beside a U.S. lodging market forecast at the Southern Lodging Summit in Memphis on Wednesday. Hotel industry expert Jan Freitag, senior vice president, strategic development for STR, formerly Smith Travel Research, fears Harvey could wipe out a year’s worth of gains in hotel room growth.

USA TODAY

Texas, United States

HVS Market Pulse: Boise, Idaho

Boise is closing in on the ranks of the top ten cities in which to live in the U.S., according to the 2017 survey by U.S. News & World Report. The reasons for the elevated ranking—number 12, as of this year—include affordability, job prospects, and overall quality of life. This reflects Boise's ascendance in other spheres, including population, visitation numbers, and the number of proposed hotels, especially in the city's downtown corridor.

By Breanna Smith, Senior Vice President, Portland, HVS

Boise, Idaho, United States

Summer Continues with Inconsistent Rates and Bookings for North American Hoteliers

As North American hoteliers push forward into the third quarter of 2017, both average daily rates (ADR) and bookings remain inconsistent across all travel segments, according to new data from TravelClick's July 2017 North American Hospitality Review (NAHR). This marks an ongoing trend for the year.

TravelClick, Inc.

United States

U.S. Hotels See Enthusiasm Amid Headwinds in Q2

Although the eight-year bull market in the US lodging industry is showing signs of deceleration, the sector posted record performance metrics on a national level during 2016 including: 65.5 percent occupancy, $124 average daily rate, $81 revenue per available room, 1.8 billion available room nights, 1.2 billion occupied room nights, and $149 billion in rooms revenue. Q1 2017 compared with Q1 2016 indicates a continued increase in every major category of measurement. Although US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth remains muted, anticipated legislation relating to tax reform and infrastructure spending should accelerate GDP and positively impact demand for transient lodging. Additionally, the current US Presidential administration's pro-business policies are seemingly beneficial for the sector.

By Daniel Lesser, President & CEO, LW Hospitality Advisors LLC (LWHA)

United States

HVS Market Pulse: Richmond, VA

Richmond, the state capital of Virginia, thrives on economic energy primarily driven by entities in the fields of law, finance, and tourism. Home to the Fourth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, the Federal Reserve Bank, and nearly a dozen Fortune 500 companies, Richmond's hotel demand generators also include tourism draws such as craft breweries and world-class museums of art and science.

By Marcus Lee, Executive Vice President, Development, HVS

Richmond, Virginia, United States

Mid-Year Report: 2017 Remains Strong

2017 is on pace to be a profitable year but it might spell the end of profitable growth as labor and health care costs are escalating beyond revenue increases. If that occurs, this would be the first year since 2010 where profits did not grow. Our outlook as of mid-year 2017 indicates it will be close but that we will fall short of another year of improved profits.

R. A. Rauch & Associates, Inc.

United States

Stable Rates with Declines in Bookings Continue as U.S. Hoteliers Close Out First Half of 2017

Heading into the second half of the year, North American hoteliers are continuing to experience stable average daily rates (ADR) alongside declines in bookings during the second quarter of 2017, according to new data from TravelClick's June 2017 North American Hospitality Review (NAHR). This marks an ongoing trend for hoteliers this year.

TravelClick, Inc.

United States

U.S. Convention center hotels boost both supply, demand

Municipalities across the United States are seeking approvals, funding or public-private partnerships to develop or redevelop their convention centers with an attached, big-box hotel. City councils in Kansas City and Oklahoma City are in process of getting approvals and funding secured while Portland, Oregon, and Chicago have such projects underway. One of the latest convention center hotel openings in the United States was the 600-room Hilton Cleveland Downtown, which opened on 1 May 2016.

By John Kelley, III, Senior Vice President, Newmark

United States

Key Takeaways: 2017 NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference

Manhattan's Marriott Marquis once again welcomed the most prominent leaders in the hospitality industry for the 2017 NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, held June 5 and 6. Over the two-day event, industry experts gathered to share their opinions on a wide variety of ownership, management, branding, lending, and economic topics. Despite uncertainties in today's global political and economic climates, the overall tone remains one of cautious optimism.

By Chris Fernandes, Senior Project Manager at HVS New York, HVS

New York, New York, United States

EY's Global hospitality insights - Top 10 thoughts for 2017

The hospitality industry continues to play an integral and robust role in the global economy. In 2016, key themes in the sector included innovation, globalization, technology and consolidation. Cross-border investment, large-scale mergers and acquisitions, and technology, such as data analytics, have changed the global landscape for hospitality executives.

Ernst & Young

United States

Tourico Holidays Data Shows Strong U.S. Hotel Market

Tourico Holidays, the world's fastest growing wholesale travel brokerage company, today shared encouraging data for the United States hotel industry, revealing an 8 percent overall increase in U.S. hotel bookings in 2016, compared to the prior year – and an additional 6.5 percent increase through the first 18 weeks of 2017.

Tourico Holidays

United States

Meet the Money 2017 Key Takeaways

The 2017 Meet the Money National Hotel Finance & Investment Conference, held May 8–10 in Los Angeles, brought together a strong showing of hotel owners, investors, lenders, brokers, consultants, franchisors, and brand representatives. Top U.S. hospitality executives served on panel discussions that addressed an array of topics related to hotel ownership, development, and financing, as well as the recent proliferation of new hotel brands and the impact of the global economy on the industry. True to this year's theme, "Opportunity or Peril: Finding the Right Key to the Right Door," a sense of cautious optimism echoed throughout the conference, supported by reports of continued hotel performance improvements in markets nationwide, balanced by the potential effects of the supply pipeline and global markets in the next 12 to 18 months.

By Benjamin Levin and Aaron Solaimani

Los Angeles, California, United States

Soft Brands - Future Opportunities in the Canadian Market

Soft brands represent the movement of brand affiliations into the independent hotel market, bringing distinctive properties into an affiliation that expands the franchise company's audience while nurturing the creation of unique property-specific experiences for guests. By associating an independent property with a soft brand, the hotel is able to benefit from the expansive distribution channels and marketing reach associated with a brand. At the same time, the soft brand allows the hotel the freedom to define and shape the product offering. For the traditional hard-branded hotel, the core selling feature is the highly controlled, uniform guest experience across every hotel with the same name. In contrast, the soft brand allows the hotel to be special, characterized by the geography and culture of the region in which it is situated and the history of its own creation; only service standards and soft touches are maintained across all properties stamped with the same soft brand. In short, the soft brand creates a synergistic relationship between the service standards associated with a brand and the character of an independent hotel.

By Meagan Barley, Consulting and Valuation Associate at HVS Vancouver, HVS

Canada

Antarctic Tourism Booming, Chinese Visitors Increasing | Tourism-review.com

The white continent, and more specifically its peninsula, welcomed 44 367 tourists during the winter of 2016/17, according to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO). This represents a 15% increase compared to the previous Antarctic tourism season.

Further rise of 5% is anticipated for 2017/2018 – some 46 385 passengers – surpassing the historical record established during the winter of 2007/2008 (46 265 persons). Just for the record, after this season, visitation numbers dropped sharply after the enactment in 2010 of more stringent regulations for vessels wishing to navigate within this zone. Only 20 out of the 49 vessels which had been traveling to Antarctica were able to continue offering cruises in the region, which restricted Antarctica tourism to only 15 000 passengers.

tourism-review.com

Antarctica

Market Pulse: Tucson, AZ

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.

By Michael Smithson and Ryan Wall

Tucson, Arizona, United States

Key Takeaways: The CREF/MBA Conference 2017

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.

By Brett Russell, Senior Vice President and Director of Business Development with HVS, HVS

United States

Market Pulse: St. Louis, MO

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.

By Tim Sauer, Senior Project Manager at HVS St. Louis, HVS

St. Louis, Missouri, United States