STR Global released pipeline data for the United States and Canada.
U.S.: The total active U.S. hotel development pipeline comprises 3,387 projects totaling 358,739 rooms, according to the June 2010 STR/TWR/Dodge Construction Pipeline Report released this week. This represents a 28.5-percent decrease in the number of rooms in the total active pipeline compared to June 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.
Among the Top 10 Markets by rooms in the In Construction phase, New York, New York, topped the list with 9,416 rooms (compared with 12,870 rooms in 2009), which represents a 27.0-percent decrease from 2009, followed by Houston, Texas, with 2,527 rooms (52.0-percent decrease from 2009) and Dallas, Texas, with 2,168 rooms (a 28.0-percent decrease from 2009). Las Vegas, Nevada, reported 1,243 rooms in the In Construction phase and fell 84.0 percent compared to 2009, for the largest decrease among the top 10 markets.
• Read “STR U.S. pipeline for June 2010.”
Canada: The Canadian hotel development pipeline comprises 211 projects totaling 22,276 rooms, according to the June 2010 STR/TWR/Dodge Construction Pipeline Report released this week. This represents a 14.9-percent decrease in the number of rooms in the pipeline compared to June 2009.
Among the provinces, Ontario reported the most rooms in the total active pipeline, ending the month with 9,793 rooms, followed by Alberta (4,516 rooms) and British Columbia (2,726 rooms). Alberta ended the month with the most rooms in the In Construction phase (2,405 rooms).
• Read “STR: Canada pipeline for June 2010.”
Global hotel demand started picking up toward the end of last year, and Asia Pacific is leading the way, according to Jonas Ogren, area director Asia—STR Global, who spoke during the annual Australia, New Zealand & Pacific Hotel Industry Conference last week in Sydney.
Looking at the rolling 12-month moving average of demand, all markets are on an upswing, and the Asia-Pacific region is leading in terms of timing and strength.
Supply growth is slowing in the region, with a 2.7-percent increase in YOY growth. The region’s peak was a year ago at 3.0 percent, and this drop has had very positive effect on RevPAR in the region, Ogren said.
Looking at occupancy performance by market, at 86.9 percent, Sydney is the best market to date in the region, Ogren said.
• Read “Indicators say more Asia-Pac improvement.”
We always love to spoil a good data buzz, so take note of this story that ran this weekend from the New York Times (mentioned on Calculated Risk).
The story explains that banks worldwide owe nearly US$5 trillion to bondholders and other creditors that will come due through 2012, according to estimates by the Bank for International Settlements. About US$2.6 trillion of the liabilities are in Europe.
U.S. banks need to refinance about US$1.3 trillion through 2012.
And, our favorite quote: “There is a cliff we are racing toward—it’s huge,” said Richard Barwell, an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland and formerly a senior economist at the Bank of England, Britain’s central bank. “No one seems to be talking about it that much.” But, he added, “it’s of first-order importance for lending and output.”
Chesapeake Hospitality is looking to get more involved in the management of select-service properties to complement its existing portfolio of full-service hotels, according to HotelNewsNow.com’s Jeff Higley.
“Having a balanced portfolio in select- and full-service is the way to go,” said Joe Smith, who formerly worked for Alliance Hospitality and Boykin Management Company, and now carries the title of executive VP at Chesapeake. “You saw with the recent downturn, the full-service hotels got hit the hardest. Group business was hammered. Having a balanced approach helps mitigate the potential for steep declines if the performance of the full-service hotels is severely hurt.”
• Read “Chesapeake takes selective growth approach.”
European air traffic has climbed back to pre-recession levels, according to Business Travel News.
Revenue passenger kilometers were up 8 percent compared with a year ago, the Association of European Airlines said. The increase was driven by a surge in bookings to the Far East.
