Four Trends for Beyond Revenge Travel 2.0
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | March 2nd, 2022
Although Pre-Pandemic Profitability Will Remain Elusive, the Industry Will Make Strides Toward Recovery in 2022
Fran Worrall | January 5th, 2022
Hotel Industry Urges Congress to Pass the American Rescue Plan
AHLA | March 2, 2021
WASHINGTON – March 2, 2021 – The following is a statement from Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), on the American Rescue Plan. “The American Rescue plan is a vital step forward in helping small businesses stay open and protecting jobs. It contains many necessary provisions AHLA has advocated for to help put the hotel industry back on a path to recovery. We applaud President Joe Biden for recognizing that small businesses need more help to get through this difficult time and we urge Congress to act immediately. By bolstering the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and allocating g...
Things We Didn’t See Coming
H. Keith Thompson | March 2, 2021
By H. Keith Thompson The past year has been great for a few hotel segments and very difficult for many others. I have personally been through many cycles and this past year has been like no other. A shift has occurred that many people didn’t see coming and most certainly, I didn’t see coming. Given this, I thought I would list a few changes that have come out of the past year. - Old exterior corridor hotels are back in vogue. By their original construction design, they have built in social distancing. - The great relocation. Mass exodus from urban core centers. - Most all demand generators from 2019 have changed significantly and ma...
Turn 2020 Profit Losses Into 2021 Wins For The Hotel Industry
Robert A. Rauch | March 2, 2021
By Robert Rauch How To Make 2021 Our Best Year Q1 of 2021 is not going to be profitable, fun or exciting for us in the hotel industry. The goods news is Q2 will come up quickly and having been through six recessions in hospitality, all the signs of a recovery are finally here. Given the significant impact of the virus on our economic, physical and mental health, I am offering a few sentences of my personal plan to recovery; we’ll dive into the following areas below: Cash Flow For Hospitality Industry Marketing, Sales & Revenue Management Technology To Improve Hotel Revenue Whether we operate a hotel, restaurant or tour...
Delaying the Restart of International Travel Will Cost the UK Economy Almost £27 Billion
WTTC | March 1, 2021
London, UK - March 1, 2021 - The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has warned that nearly £27 billion will be lost from the UK economy if the government delays restarting international travel until May 17. The date was set by Prime Minister Boris Johnson when he unveiled the highly anticipated roadmap out of lockdown earlier this week. According to the government’s roadmap, two households will be able to mix outdoors from March 29 and WTTC believes this should signal the restart of safe international travel. Resuming international travel by just seven weeks earlier, to coincide the Easter holiday break, could save struggl...
Deloitte: Consumer Perception of Travel Safety Improves as Vaccines Roll Out, COVID Cases Decline
Deloitte | February 23, 2021
New York, Feb. 22 2021 Why this matters As a global health crisis morphed into an economic one, Deloitte has been conducting a series of weekly surveys, around the United States, to better understand the interplay between personal safety and economic vulnerability as a driver of purchase decisions and consumer behavior. The most recent iteration (fielded Jan. 22 to 27) of “Deloitte’s Global State of the Consumer Tracker,” queried at least 1,000 American consumers. As nearly 30 million vaccine doses have been administered in the U.S., the latest responses show improving travel intentions and increasing consumer activity, pointing t...
GBTA Poll: Vaccine a Game-Changer for a Return to Travel
GBTA | February 18, 2021
Nearly half of respondents say border closures and restrictions have impacted their company travel recovery efforts in 2021 Alexandria, VA (February 18, 2021) – The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s largest business travel association, finds most GBTA members and stakeholders (79%) would be “very comfortable” or “comfortable” traveling for business after receiving the Covid-19 vaccination, and almost half support mandatory testing prior to travel to ensure the safety of customers and clients when meeting face-to-face. The latest findings come from the 16th installment of the coronavirus poll, conducted ...
HSMAI Foundation’s COVID Relief Fund Opens With Generous $150,000 Donation From the Carolyn Smith Foundation
HSMAI Foundation | February 18, 2021
McLean, VA - February 18, 2021 - The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Foundation is opening its COVID Relief Fund for grant applications following a generous donation of $150,000 from the Carolyn Smith Foundation on behalf of STR Founders Carolyn and Randy Smith. The HSMAI Foundation COVID Relief Fund was established in 2020 with the generous support of benefactors including the Carolyn Smith Foundation, IDeaS Revenue Solutions, and individual donors including past and present leaders Hoyt Bacon, Mike Leven, and Flo Lugli. The fund provides HSMAI membership and educational grants for HSMAI programs to mem...
A Consultant’s Perspective on the Pandemic in 2021
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | February 17, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky The pandemic continues to plague our operations and practically all aspects of our daily lives. In 2020, we may have found ourselves feeling disconnected from the world around us and losing touch with old friends as we all shuffled about to adapt to the new normal. That’s why it was great to reconnect early in January with Cornelia Kausch, a veteran hotelier who hails from Germany and who I worked with in what seems like several lifetimes ago. Currently living in Berlin, Cornelia is the founder of CK Hospitality Advisors, and she can offer a unique perspective on where hospitality is headed as we anxiously...
Impact of Recent Federal Stimulus on the Travel Industry
Thomas Hazinski | February 15, 2021
By Thomas A. Hazinski, Joseph Hansel Introduction The COVID-19 crisis consumed the United States for approximately three-quarters of the past year. In December 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.[1] The development and distribution of an effective COVID-19 vaccine, alongside other public health measures, should allow us to combat the health effects of the global pandemic. With certainty coalescing around the health solutions to the pandemic, attention must turn to economic solutions. The economic impact of COVID-19 is seen in almost all economic indic...
U.S. Travel Reacts to U.S. Airlines’ White House Meeting
U.S. Travel Association | February 15, 2021
WASHINGTON — February 15, 2021 — U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on the meeting between U.S. airlines’ chief executives and White House coronavirus response officials: “The high cost and low availability of testing make a domestic testing mandate a challenging concept to put into practice. Based on January 2021 data, a testing requirement for domestic air travel would necessitate a 42% increase in daily testing capacity nationwide—a substantial use of testing resources when air travel has already been shown to be safer than many other routine activities. “The recent implemen...
Luxury’s Next Competitor Is Not a Hotel
Larry and Adam Mogelonsky | February 10, 2021
By Larry and Adam Mogelonsky Every hotel property aspires to be luxury in one way or another, even as the word ‘luxury’ has become a bit overused in the past decade. As such, there are always new entrants testing out concepts and evolving various features, amenities or service offerings, all in an attempt to get one step ahead of the curve. The pandemic has, of course, shifted priorities but the pursuit of luxury still remains as a means of capturing guests’ hearts. Concurrent to this arms race amongst traditional hotels – and now also alternative accommodations – it is important that hospitality brands consider those accommod...
How Are Hotels Adapting and Innovating During COVID-19?
Company Debt | February 9, 2021
Covid-19 has hit businesses of just about every shape and size hard, but few have felt the effects quite as strongly as those in the hospitality industry. Bars, restaurants and hotels in many parts of the world have been forced to close as restrictions to limit the spread of the Coronavirus have taken hold. Before the pandemic slammed the breaks on international and domestic travel, the global hotel trade was looking rosy. The corporate travel industry alone was forecast to grow into a $1.7 trillion industry by 2023. But rather than enjoying what was predicted to be one of the biggest growth spurts hoteliers have ever seen, they have been...
WTTC Says Governments Should Abandon the Concept of ‘High-Risk Countries’ and Instead Focus on ‘High-Risk Travellers’
WTTC | February 5, 2021
London, UK - February 5, 2021 - The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) is calling for governments to abandon the concept of ‘high-risk countries’ and instead focus on how individual ‘high-risk travellers’ are treated at borders. WTTC, which represents the global Travel & Tourism private sector, is urging governments around the world to shift their focus from whole countries, towards individual travellers. Instead, WTTC says governments around the world should redefine their whole approach to risk assessment, to revive international business and leisure travel. Combined with a common international consensus on the m...
Vision 2050 – 2nd Edition: The Recovery Year
Robert Rauch | February 2, 2021
By Robert Rauch The Recovery Year For Hotels The final U.S. lodging industry numbers for 2020 came out and RevPAR literally finished at half of where it finished in 2019—that’s right, half! Occupancy was 66.1% at $131.17 average rate and RevPAR of $86.76. 2020 finished at 42% at a rate of $103.00, RevPAR was $43.26. The impact to the bottom line is easy to see in our bank accounts as breakeven has always been thought to be close to 60% occupancy but many forget the importance of rate to that equation. Travel Demand How and when do we recover? The when is certainly up for debate but most pundits are focused on 2023 or 2024....
Business Travel: Full Recovery Expected by 2025
the Global Business Travel Association | February 2, 2021
Alexandria, Virginia – February 2, 2021 – The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) – the world’s largest business travel association – released its annual BTI™ Outlook, a detailed analysis of business travel in 2020, with projections for 2021 and beyond. The BTI Outlook, now in its 12th year, is an exhaustive study of business travel spending and growth covering 75 countries across 48 industries. The true global financial impact of COVID-19 began in Q2 2020, resulting in an expected 68% decline (to $738 billion USD) from April 1, 2020 to the end of the year. Because of the relatively strong (pre-COVID) first quarter of 202...
Is This the Year the World Will Finally Return to Normal?
Michelle McKinney Frymire | February 1, 2021
By Michelle McKinney Frymire As a Finance and Strategy leader, an important part of my job is trying to “see around corners” for our company – to know what is coming and how to react to it, but I must admit that a year ago I would not have predicted where we are today. And, while I still can’t predict when the pandemic will end, there are some things I see about 2021 that I would like to share. The first is a view some of you may not want to hear -- I can confidently tell you that the world is never going back to the “normal” that existed before the pandemic. It is time to move to our “next normal”, and frankly, I wouldn...
State of the Travel Industry Event Maps Out Comeback for Hardest-Hit U.S. Industry
U.S. Travel Association | January 28, 2021
WASHINGTON — January 28, 2021 — “Travel’s Next Great Chapter.” That’s how U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow described the coming era for the American travel and tourism industry following the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic that saw the industry lose 4.5 million jobs by the end of last year—the most of any U.S. industry. In the annual State of the Travel Industry address delivered via webcast from the National Press Club on Wednesday, Dow acknowledged the hardships the pandemic has inflicted on travel—both as an industry and as a fundamental part of American life—but struck an optimistic tone abou...
How Hotels Are Getting Back to the Business of Meetings
Fran Worrall | January 26, 2021
Although in-person events may look different, the outlook is optimistic By Fran Worrall With the arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine, can the return of meetings and conferences be far behind? Although the pandemic has no doubt changed the way events will be held—at least for the foreseeable future—most hoteliers and industry experts are feeling optimistic. In fact, many properties and meeting planners are already glimpsing signs of life after COVID. “We’re seeing an increase in inquiries, especially in the second half of 2021,” said Blair McSheffrey, vice-president of global & hotel sales at Sonesta, who attributes the uptick...
MEDIA ADVISORY: U.S. Travel Association’s State of the Travel Industry Event
U.S. Travel Association | January 25, 2021
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 1 p.m. EST | Webcast from the National Press Club Media Teleconference to follow at 1:40 p.m. U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow will lay out his vision for continuing to rebuild America’s travel and tourism industry, which has been hit harder than any other U.S. economic sector by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dow will address the lingering challenges to travel, the prospects for reopening as testing and vaccines become more widely available, and the policy prescriptions that can lay the groundwork for a restoration of lost jobs and a return to travel norms. Among the policy topics that ...
Reaction to President Biden’s Executive Orders on Travel
U.S. Travel Association | January 22, 2021
WASHINGTON (January 22, 2021)—U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on the COVID-related executive orders issued by the White House Thursday, many of which pertain to travel: “We welcome the president’s focus on policies that will encourage safe travel and help restore the millions of U.S. travel jobs that were lost last year. “The CDC’s inbound testing requirement is the key to reopening international travel and it adds another important layer of safety. If the testing requirement is going to work on a global scale, it has to be flexible and reflect where testing resources are avai...
Confidence Is Growing for a Return to Business Travel
the Global Business Travel Association | January 21, 2021
Alexandria, VA (January 21, 2021) – The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s largest business travel association, has released the results from its 15th coronavirus poll, the first in 2021, to measure the impact on business travel following the onset of the pandemic last year. The latest survey finds that more than half of respondents expect most of their employees will return to the office by Q3, in line with a return to non-essential business travel and a growth in traveler confidence. “While we continue to face challenges for our industry, there is light at the end of the tunnel and projections for a return t...
How Hotels Are Faring in Transformative Times
Daniel Lesser | January 20, 2021
By Daniel H. Lesser We live in extraordinary times. There are only a limited number of periods in America’s 245-year history which have been as transformative as 2020 (i.e., 1776, 1865, 1929, 1945, 1968, 2001). The confluence of a global pandemic, mass civil disobedience, and the transfer of power will undoubtedly affect how we live and work in 2021 and beyond. The COVID-19 pandemic that commenced in early 2020 represents yet another demarcation in life “before” and “after.” 2020 began as geopolitical tensions spiked on January 3rd, and the U.S. stood at the brink of war when an American drone strike near the Baghdad Inter...
Over 100 Million Global Travel & Tourism Jobs Could Be Recovered in 2021
WTTC | January 19, 2021
London, UK: More than 100 million jobs could return to the global Travel & Tourism sector during 2021, as the world recovers from the crippling COVID-19 pandemic, says the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). A strong summer of travel is expected as the sector begins its road to recovery from late March onwards, with many major travel companies reporting a significant rise in forward bookings. The sector’s revival is backed by WTTC’s latest economic forecast, which gives further hope for the year ahead to businesses and millions of people employed in the sector worldwide. Last year, during the height of the pandemic, W...
6 Key Learnings From an Unprecedented Year in Hospitality
Matthieu Mauguin | January 18, 2021
By Matthieu Mauguin An inspiring look at the gains and losses that the Covid crisis has brought upon the Hospitality industry. The future is remarkably hopeful and full of innovation-driven malleability. Resiliance and courage displayed by the industry At the end of 2019, hospitality professionals seemed to have a good idea of what to expect in 2020. From the impending advent of new AI solutions to the generalization of online marketing, most analysts predicted that the industry would keep on riding its growth spur towards a complete digital transformation. Enter the COVID-19 outbreak, and, alongside it, the emergence of an apocalyp...
