inflation
Summer Travel Poll: 61% of Americans Likely To Travel for Leisure
AHLA | May 21, 2024
Inflation remains a significant obstacle to economic growth for the hotel industry WASHINGTON (May 21, 2024) – Sixty-one percent of Americans plan to travel overnight for leisure in the next four months and 34% of Americans expect to increase their overnight leisure travel this summer compared to last year, according to a new survey commissioned by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) and conducted by Morning Consult. The poll found that 31% of Americans said they plan to increase their number of hotel stays this summer compared to last summer. Regarding business travel, 35% of Americans said they expect to take an ov...
High Cost of Borrowing Contributes to 19% Fall in European Hotel Transactions in 2023, Says HVS Report
HVS | April 3, 2024
03 April 2024, London: High inflation and interest rate rises had a major impact on the European hotel investment market last year, slowing transaction activity and taking volumes 19% lower than in 2022, the second lowest level of investment in the past decade, according to the HVS European Hotel Transaction Report from global hotel consultancy HVS London and its hotel brokerage arm HVS Hodges Ward Elliott. Transaction volume across Europe reached €10.7bn, with 388 hotels* changing hands – and an average price per hotel that was 9% lower than in the previous year, although significantly ahead of the transaction volume in the year...
What to Expect in the Hospitality Industry in 2024
Mark D. Podgainy | March 4, 2024
By Mark D. Podgainy The hospitality industry experienced a modest increase in RevPAR in 2023, and the industry seems to be optimistic about the future. What’s ahead for 2024? Uncertainty is the major theme. What’s Ahead • Interest rates will be higher for longer. Expectations of a number of rapid cuts to the Federal Funds rate early this year have been dashed with the latest inflation data. Most economists still expect reductions in the Federal Funds rate but have pushed back the time frame for the first reduction to late spring and have reduced their forecasts for the number of reductions. If inflation remains stubbornly high,...
2024 Budget Planning: What Is Top of Mind for Hotel Owners & Operators?
HotStats | October 19, 2023
Budget season is upon us, and around the world hotel owners and operators are buried deep in data trying to come up with 2024 performance numbers. What unique challenges are hotels facing in the 2024 budgeting and planning process? HotStats reached out to global hospitality leaders to find out. By Michael Grove Chief Operating Officer HotStats 1. 2023 Hotel Performance: Growth Is Slowing In UAE, Saudi Arabia, India, Brazil, and the Caribbean, hotel profit margins in the first half of 2023 well surpassed 2019 levels, whereas they lagged in the UK, Germany, Spain, Poland, and Qatar. In China, hotels experienced tremendous growth rel...
The Economic Rollercoaster
Aaron Szyf | October 16, 2023
By Aaron Szyf It seems like we’re on an economic rollercoaster right now and the big question is when we get off. When does inflation cool? We dig into the latest data to help determine if a soft landing really is where we’re heading. After renewed expectations of a recession in recent weeks, as summarized in our earlier blog, it now seems like the prospects of a “soft landing” have increased. Shocking jobs data: Last Friday, BLS surprised economists when it announced that the economy added 336,000 jobs in September, way above the 170,000 increase that was expected and above the monthly average of 267,000 over the past ye...
Converging Factors: Is a Soft Landing Possible?
Aaron Szyf | October 3, 2023
With mixed economic data, economists—for over a year—have been warning of a possible recession sometime in 2023, though they seem to have consistently pushed the can down the road. By Aaron Szyf As we enter the final quarter of the year, is this recession still happening? And what does this mean for travel? Optimism, among some: To the delight of many, in recent weeks, the term “soft landing”—an ideal situation when the Fed can raise interest rates just enough to curb high inflation but without causing a recession—has been gaining traction. In fact, Goldman Sachs has significantly cut their recession odds over the nex...
How Three—or Four—Factors Have Combined to Increase Travel’s Affordability
Aaron Szyf | August 4, 2023
A combination of increased wages, cooling overall inflation and declining travel prices have recently made travel more affordable. By Aaron Szyf Below, we take a deep dive into the data and what it means for travel. By the numbers: • Wages: Average private sector wages were up 4.4% in June year-over-year (YOY). This exceeds the rate of inflation (3.0% YOY), meaning that purchasing power has increased. • Overall inflation: Overall inflation moderated in June. While prices were still up 3.0% YOY, this is the lowest YOY increase since March 2021. • Travel inflation: While overall prices moderated, travel prices d...
HVS Webinar: Higher Interest Rates Are Here to Stay but the “Old Normal” Will Come Back
Russel Kett | July 7, 2023
By Russell Kett We were delighted to welcome 425 delegates to our webinar on The Status of Hotel Debt Finance on Wednesday 5 July, hosted by HVS in conjunction with Bird & Bird, AlixPartners and EP Business in Hospitality. Tim Barbrook of HVS Hodges Ward Elliott and James Salford of Bird & Bird led off with a detailed presentation, explaining how we have got to where we are now, focusing on the impact of inflation and its effect on interest rates, and predicting what the future holds. They commented that lenders are now tending to focus their support on budget / limited service and luxury hotels. Interest cover...
