Day two of the Hotel Data Conference featured hotel industry forecasts and how best to adapt to outside influences.
Forecast: For the remainder of 2012, STR, parent company of HotelNewsNow.com, is forecasting an occupancy increase of 2.1%, a 4.4% rise in average daily rates to $106.19 and revenue per available room to be up 6.5%. For 2013, the company sees a 0.3% increase in occupancy, a 4.6% rise in ADR to $111.03 and RevPAR to be up 4.9%.
PwC’s outlook has occupancy increasing 2.6%, ADR growing by 4.6% and RevPAR going up 7.2% for the remainder of 2012.
PKF has occupancy hitting 61.4% for the remainder of 2012, ADR going up 4.2% and RevPAR increasing 6.7%. For 2013, PKF is forecasting occupancy will go up to 62.1%, ADR will increase 5% and RevPAR will rise 6.2%.
Outside influences: Successful strategizing will trump challenges in the hotel operating environment, panelists said during the conference.
HotelNewsNow.com’s Jason Q. Freed reports panelists provided important takeaways for the hotel industry in the present climate, including:
- In response to price-conscious consumers, consider value-adds when pricing.
- To capitalize on an evolving business mix, harness data points.
- Place an increased effort on impacting the guest with multiple touch points to avoid decreasing customer-satisfaction scores.
- Monitor the economic climate closely to prepare appropriately for any upcoming headwinds.
Prices for select-service hotels are being driven up by private-equity firms, reports Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Opportunity and private-equity funds completed $519 million of select-service hotel purchases this year through July, up 19% year over year. The deals this year represent 35% of total sales of such properties, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.
“Lower (capitalization) rates show that these hotels are getting more expensive, and that means the competition is back,” Samantha Fisher, senior VP at JLLH, said. In the past several months, there have been more bids per property at any time since the U.S. financial crisis, she said. “We’ve seen a dozen or so offers on some of the limited-service hotels.”
The United States and Canada showed positive results in the key performance metrics for the week ending 1 September, according to STR.
U.S.: In year-over-year comparisons, occupancy ended the week with a 2.7% increase to 62.7%, ADR was up 5.4% to $104.65 and RevPAR increased 8.3% to $65.56.
Canada: In year-over-year measurements, the country’s hotel occupancy increased 5.8% to 72.9%, its ADR rose 2.3% to 129.08 Canadian dollars ($131.36) and its RevPAR was up 8.3% to CA$94.11 ($95.76).
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Playa Samara and Sardinal in the northern Pacific coast region of Costa Rica, but the country’s tourism officials said hotels are “operating normally,” according to a report in the International Business Times.
The quake was followed by three aftershocks, each measuring higher than a magnitude 4.0. The Costa Rica Tourism Board reported normal operations late Wednesday night in international airports and flight arrivals at both Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport and San Jose International Airport. The local airports, too, remain unaffected.
"The country is carrying out all necessary surveillance efforts and monitoring different parts of the country to determine the potential damage to infrastructure," the tourism board said in its statement.
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 96,000 in August, and the unemployment rate edged down to 8.1%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in food services and drinking places, in professional and technical services, and in health care.
Meanwhile, U.S. productivity grew by 2.2% during the second quarter, the bureau reported.
The increase in productivity reflects increases of 2.4% in output and 0.1% in hours worked. From the second quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012, productivity increased 1.2% as output and hours worked rose 3% and 1.7%, respectively.
Compiled by Shawn A. Turner.
