russell kett
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...
Israel Hotel Market Overview 2023 – Recovery in Progress!
Russell Kett | June 16, 2023
By Russell Kett, Charles Carpentier In the past year, Israel’s hotel sector has continued to demonstrate its resilience and its ability to withstand the impact of COVID-19, similar to the way it has bounced back from so many previous adversities. The domestic tourism market has been a saviour – achieving growth in excess of 2019’s levels by the end of 2022 – and there are now signs that international visitation is recovering strongly, and we are confident that, barring any unforeseen challenges, this could have recovered to 2019 levels by the end of 2023. Israelis have an unquenchable thirst for travel, and the opportunities cre...
HVS Webinar: Private Equity Steps Up Its Interest in Hotel Assets
Russell Kett | May 11, 2023
By Russell Kett Organised by HVS with, Bird & Bird, AlixPartners and EP Business in Hospitality, the latest in our series of webinars kicked off with positive feedback from an audience poll in which 41% of attendees said they expected investment in hotels to grow by 10% or more over the next 12 months with city centre, full service hotels and resort leisure hotels the sectors most likely to attract investor interest. AlixPartners’ managing director Graeme Smith outlined the significant funds being raised by private equity although the rising price of labour, energy and the cost of living had prompted investment activity to...
It’s Time to Re-Evaluate Hotel Performance Metrics, Says HVS
HVS | March 7, 2023
07 March 2023, London: Hotel operators need to learn to manage the entire building they operate and start thinking of performance in terms of the total revenue or profit per available square metre, giving a more accurate assessment of the property’s success. This is the conclusion of a new report from global hotel consultancy HVS, which considers the limitations of various hotel performance indices used in the hotel sector as a benchmark for hotel investment, for property valuations and for analysing operating success. The most widely used performance index is Rooms Revenue per Available Room [RevPAR] which, HVS says, can be a usef...
7 Changes the UK’s Hotel Sector Can’t Afford to Ignore
HVS | January 13, 2022
The pandemic, Brexit and ongoing supply issues have prompted key changes in the UK’s hotel sector, many of which are long-term, if not permanent. ‘The past 18 months has been an unprecedented time for hotels. In order to survive, businesses must embrace change across their entire operation and do so quickly,’ says HVS London chairman Russell Kett, who outlines seven changes that businesses can’t afford to ignore as we move into 2022. 1. Reliance on technology: The use of smart rooms, digital reception, keyless rooms entry, smart payment, smart check-in/-out – with some hotels eliminating the need for a front-of-h...
HVS Webinar Recap: Cross-Border Hotel Investment Between the UAE and Israel
Russell Kett | April 16, 2021
By Russell Kett The first-ever webinar on Cross-Border Hotel Investment between the UAE and Israel took place last week, jointly presented by HVS at the Israel Ministry of Tourism, the UAE-Israel Business Council and Copeland Hospitality. More than 230 delegates from the hospitality industry worldwide gathered online to hear contributions from MK Orit Farkash-Hacohen, Minister of Tourism of the State of Israel, and her ministry colleagues Amir Halevi and Lorin Maugery. Robin Rossman of STR presented an analysis of the recent performance of hotels in the UAE and Israel, followed by an interview with Kamal Naamani of the A...
The Impact of COVID-19 on the European Hotel Sector
Russell Kett | September 24, 2020
By Russell Kett There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a most dramatic effect on the hotel business throughout Europe and words like ‘unprecedented’ and ‘unique’ are used liberally to describe the situation. Performance data from STR for the first half of the year compared with 2019 show how dramatic the effect on the hotel sector has been with RevPAR since March 2020 nose-diving, with many hotels closing their doors. Figure 1 shows the performance of those hotels which remained open during this period. (Adding in those hotels achieving zero RevPAR would make the graph look worse still.) Figure 1: European Hotels R...
Hotel Investors Across Europe Have ‘Wall of Money’ and Confidence in the Sector’s Ability to Recover, Hears Webinar
HVS | September 17, 2020
17 September 2020, London: A webinar held this week [15th September] hosted by HVS, AlixPartners, Bird & Bird and EP Magazine, heard a distinguished panel of experts debate the impact of the global pandemic on hotel values across Europe and whether it had in fact, created an investment opportunity. HVS London chairman Russell Kett kicked off the session by noting the improved performance of hotels in July, compared with April of this year, despite many properties remaining closed. “Things have started to move in those properties that have re-opened,” he said, “business is starting to come back. These are good signs with strong in...
