Smith Travel Research released U.S. and Canada results for the week ending 6 March.
STR found good news for the U.S. market, as revenue per available room posted its first increase—rising 0.9 percent to US$52.75—in 18 months, reports HotelNewsNow.com’s Rachael Spann.
Overall, the industry’s occupancy ended the week with a 4.0-percent increase to 54.9 percent and average daily rate dropped 3.0 percent to finish the week at US$96.05.
Read “STR: RevPAR increases in US weekly results.”
Meanwhile, the Canadian hotel industry reported decreases in all three key performance measurements during the week of 28 February-6 March 2010, according to data from STR.
In year-over-year measurements, the industry’s occupancy decreased 0.4 percent to 55.3 percent. Average daily rate fell 0.9 percent to finish the week at CAD$125.36. Revenue per available room for the week dropped 1.3 percent decrease to CAD$69.36.
Read “STR: Canada hotel results for week ending 6 March.”
Regional pipeline numbers were also released. The total active U.S. hotel development pipeline includes 3,551 projects comprising 368,740 rooms, according to the February 2010 STR/TWR/Dodge Construction Pipeline Report released this week.
This represents a 35.9-percent decrease in the number of rooms in the total active pipeline compared to February 2009. The total active pipeline data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages, but does not include projects in the Pre-Planning stage.
“We’re seeing comparable declines in room development across all regions of the country,” said Duane Vinson, vice president at STR. “The Mountain Region has posted the sharpest year-over-year decline due to a 75-percent (16,000-room) decline in the Las Vegas pipeline.”
Read “STR: US pipeline for February 2010.”
Hotel executives at the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin talked about the potential for development and growth, according to a story by HotelNewsNow.com’s Stacey Mieyal Higgins.
Simon Turner, president of global development at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, described the current climate as “buoyant” compared to last year. That said, acquiring smaller chains or properties is third on Starwood’s list of where to spend capital, after support systems and asset improvement and testing.
Meanwhile, Accor’s chief development officer Christian Karaoglanian said he does not foresee a lot of new builds during the next few years. But, he added, there are a lot of hotels under construction currently.
Read “Hotel growth leaders find more buoyancy.”
An investigation into the collapse and bankruptcy of Extended Stay, which was to be released by 12 March, has been temporarily sealed by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Citing confidentiality issues, court-appointed examiner Ralph R. Mabey asked the Court to temporarily seal the findings contained in the report.
The Court will next take up the matter during a hearing on 8 April.
Read “Examiner’s probe of Extended Stay’s bankruptcy sealed.”
The number of major hotel sales have fallen by 83 percent since 2007 and have hit a two-decade low, according to the HVS Survey of Major and Mid-Market U.S. Hotel Transactions in 2009.
“Price per room showed a similar trend, with the number of sales falling dramatically in categories of US$150,000 per room and above. This suggests that the US$150,000-per-room mark was a primary barrier of entry to hotel transactions in 2009, a major shift downward from the previous two years, which saw a much larger percentage of transactions in the higher price categories,” said Amy Beam, HVS director of hotel transactions.
Most transactions last year were for between US$10 million and US$50 million, similar to what was seen during 2007 and 2008, according to the report.
Read “HVS: US new hotel sales fall hit two-decade low.”
Compiled by Shawn A. Turner.
