Fitch: Need for Scale Could Drive More US Lodging Consolidation

September 1, 2017

Fitch Ratings-New York/Chicago-1 September 2017: The growing power of the largest U.S. hotel brands is altering the hospitality industry competitive landscape and will likely drive more lodging consolidation, according to Fitch Ratings. Smaller lodging operators are taking more balance sheet risk to grow their rooms systems, as hotel owners and franchisees increasingly align themselves with industry leaders Marriott and Hilton. Marriott and Hilton are well ahead of their peers in terms of system size and average daily room rates (ADR) and are taking development share away from smaller brand operators in the U.S. Scale-related competitiv...