STR released a summer forecast today. The data research company predicts summer occupancy will increase 2.2 percent to 63.1 percent, average daily rate will decrease 1.9 percent to US$95.16, and revenue per available room will end the summer virtually flat with a 0.2-percent increase to US$60.03.
• Read “STR releases summer forecast.”
In a column today for HotelNewsNow.com, Daniel Lesser and Rick Rogovin discuss the hotel transaction as transfer of ownership of real property:
“A lodging property sale still involves the interest in real and personal property and true return to the owned bundle of rights and not the business value of the management company or franchise affiliation.”
Sri Lankan hotel chief Hiran Cooray is the new Chairman of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). His two-year appointment was confirmed at PATA’s annual meeting in Kuching, Sarawak. The chairman-elect is Macau Government Tourist Office Director Joao Manuel Costa Antunes.
Choice Hotels International announced a brand refresh for its Sleep Inn chain at its conference last week in Las Vegas.
The Designed to Dream program for Sleep Inn has been in development for a couple of years. It is built around a simple stylish experience that allows guests to feel well-rested, according to Mike Varner, the director of brand planning for Sleep Inn.
Walt Disney World plans to build a 2,000-room hotel near its Pop Century Resort that focuses more on family suites, according to a story in the Orlando Business Journal.
Disney’s Art of Animation Resort—expected to open in 2012—will have more than 1,100 suites and 900 guestrooms. The resort will include wings based on the Disney films “Cars,” “Finding Nemo,” “The Lion King” and “The Little Mermaid,” which means it will feature countless screaming children and their poor, well-intentioned parents.
Compiled by Stacey Higgins.
