Kristina D'Amico
HVS Global Hotel Industry: 2023 Recap and 2024 Outlook
HVS | December 5, 2023
As 2023 draws to a close, regional HVS leaders across the globe take a look back at how the global hotel industry fared this year and opine on the outlook for next year. While the U.S. experienced muted 2023 RevPAR growth relative to 2022 gains, most other global markets recorded extraordinary RevPAR growth, well above 10%, primarily fueled by strong ADR gains. While transaction activity cooled across the Americas and Europe, the Asia Pacific saw a significant strengthening as this region’s markets moved beyond pandemic-era restrictions. United States By Rod Clough, President – Americas As 2023 ends, we look back on a year where hot...
Shining in Today’s New Normal: Key Takeaways From CHICOS 2023
Benjamin Pascarella | December 4, 2023
By Kristina M. D'Amico, Benjamin Pascarella Last year’s CHICOS conference focused on the Caribbean region’s rebound from the closure of the islands due to COVID-19. However, this year’s CHICOS theme, “Shining in Today’s New Normal,” highlighted the exponential growth in arrivals and average rates in the region. A few key takeaways from this year’s conference are presented below. Record-Breaking Demand As the Caribbean hotel market has shattered occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR records, with some islands experiencing double-digit growth, there is no question the region is shining bright. During CHICOS 2022 last year, we all me...
The U.S. Virgin Islands: An Anticipated Record-Breaking Year
Kristina M. D'Amico | March 16, 2023
By Kristina M. D'Amico After the devasting impacts of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, the U.S. Virgin Islands, which comprise the islands of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix, faced a significant rebuilding effort to reopen their hotel inventory. As the renovations and reopenings from the 2017 hurricane season were nearing completion, COVID-19 began to affect the islands. However, the U.S. Virgin Islands have a significant competitive advantage over the other islands in the Caribbean because they benefit from U.S. territory status. As a result, the U.S. Virgin Islands avoided the complicated COVID-19 travel restrictions that exist...
Reactivating the Caribbean During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Kristina D’Amico | August 6, 2020
By Kristina D'Amico The top priority for all islands in the region has been a focus on residents and the public health issues at hand. Upon knowledge of the COVID-19 pandemic, each island immediately closed its borders, which allowed for a very low number of cases in the region so that the islands could focus on containing the virus transmission without any additional entrants. Given that the Caribbean is the most tourism-dependent region in the world, it was essential to develop new protocols for entry, which had never been implemented before, once the virus spread was under control in each country. Per Honorable Dominic Fedee, Chair o...
2019 in the Caribbean Region: ‘Cause Every Little Thing Gonna Be Alright
Kristina M. D'Amico | September 26, 2019
By Kristina M. D'Amico Strong Year-to-Date Performance, Bolstered by ADR Increases The Caribbean islands have long been established as a popular travel destination for U.S., Canadian, and European travelers. Tourism to the islands is highly dependent upon the availability of transportation. Cruise ships and airlines are responsible for the vast majority of visitor arrivals to the islands, with air service the method of transportation for almost all of the tourists requiring overnight accommodations. Consequently, the availability and caliber of air service to the local airports has had a material influence on the level of tourism to ...
