Total European hotel transaction volume reached approximately €7.1 billion ($9.51 billion) during 2011, a 9% jump, according to HVS’ 2011 European Hotel Transactions report. There were approximately 116 trades (of more than €7.5 million, or $10.05 million), including 264 hotels and more than 43,200 rooms.
Transactions volume increased for the second consecutive year but is still below the 2006 peak of €20 billion ($26.79 billion).
HVS attributes the rise to increased leisure and business demand, which led to hotels being viewed as a more attractive investment. Also, HVS notes an increased number of distressed assets came to market during the year.
View the full report.
Concord Hospitality Enterprises has committed $355 million to its hotel development pipeline, according to a report from HotelNewsNow.com’s Shawn A. Turner.
Mark Laport, Concord’s president and CEO, said he sees an opportunity in today’s climate to boost his company’s development profile. He said construction costs, while increasing, are still reasonable and Concord is finding decent rates from lenders.
Those factors are allowing the company to make inroads in the hotel development game.
“It helps our projects make more sense from an economic feasibility perspective,” he said. Financing for a typical Concord hotel project is at 65% to 70% of cost.
Within the past two weeks, three courts have affirmed that local jurisdictions in Kentucky, Tennessee and Philadelphia cannot impose taxes on online travel companies for their reservation services under existing hotel occupancy tax ordinances. State and federal courts are rebuffing efforts by state and local governments to attempt to impose hotel occupancy taxes on online travel companies for their services, according to a news release from the Interactive Travel Services Association.
“We are pleased that these three courts have properly interpreted the law, and correctly concluded that online travel companies do not operate hotels or underpay taxes,” said Joseph Rubin, President of the ITSA.
Hotwire.com’s Travel Savings Indicator identified the top five U.S. cities that have seen the biggest year-over-year price drops. A lack of snow pushed the Reno/Tahoe, Nevada, region to No. 1 on the list as the region saw a 22% drop.
Cities in the top five, with price drops, according to Hotwire.com:
| Hotel Market |
Price drop |
| Reno, Tahoe, Nevada |
22% |
| Pittsburgh |
15% |
| Cincinnati |
4% |
| Las Vegas |
3% |
| New York |
3% |
Best Western International is the latest company to get on the Facebook booking train, announcing late last week that guests can now book rooms through the social-media giant.
Best Western counts more than 4,100 hotels globally. "More than ever, Best Western's customers are integrating social media into every part of their personal and professional lives," Dorothy Dowling, Best Western's senior VP of marketing and sales, said in a news release. "It's imperative that we answer the call from our customers to make it easy to research, book and share travel experiences through their preferred channels."
Compiled by Shawn A. Turner.
