Breaking news about deals, development, data and more.
Megadevelopment coming to Fort Lauderdale. Developers Related
Group, Tate Capital and Rok Acquisitions, in collaboration with Marriott
International, have unveiled plans for The St. Regis Resort and Residences,
Bahia Mar Fort Lauderdale in Florida. The $2 billion development will elevate
the megayacht marina into a lifestyle destination spanning more than 40 acres
of land and water. The first phase of the development will include two 23-story
residential towers with 160 units and a 197-key luxury hotel under the St.
Regis brand, along with a private beach club, fine dining restaurants and
upscale retail. Sales for The St. Regis Residences, Bahia Mar, Fort Lauderdale
are now underway with pricing beginning at $4.4 million for the condominium
residences and $2 million for the resort residences atop the hotel.
Europe drives Booking growth. Booking Holdings announced 3Q24
earnings that included room night growth of 8% driven primarily by stronger
performance in Europe. Booking brought in total revenue of $8 billion, a 9%
increase year over year for the quarter, and adjusted EBITDA was $3.7 billion,
a 12% increase over Q3 2023. Marketing spend was up slightly in the quarter to
$2.15 billion compared to $2.02 billion during the same period in 2023. Marketing
expense in the quarter was 5% of gross bookings,15 basis points lower than
during the same period last year. That change came as a result of higher direct
mix and higher returns on performance marketing investments. It was offset, he
said, due to a higher spend in social media, among other factors. Overall, room
nights sold in the third quarter this year were 299 million compared to 276
million during the same period last year. Thirty-five percent of those nights
came from alternative accommodation bookings, which grew by 14% year over year.
“We continue to see growth in connected trip transactions, which means a trip
that includes booking more than one travel vertical,” said CEO Glenn Fogel.
“These connected transactions increased by over 40% year over year in the third
quarter and represented a high single digit percentage of Booking.com total
transactions.”
Positive week in US. The U.S. hotel industry for the week of
October 20-26 reported positive year-over-year comparisons, according to CoStar
data. Occupancy was 69.0% (+4.5% YOY); ADR was $168.69 (+4.6% YOY); and RevPAR
was $116.32 (+9.3% YOY). Among the Top 25 Markets, Tampa saw the largest
occupancy lift (+28.1% to 84.2%), due to continued displacement demand from
Hurricane Milton. New Orleans saw the highest increases in ADR (+64.1% to $301.30)
and RevPAR (+77.6% to $227.24). The market’s performance was driven by Taylor
Swift’s Eras Tour. The steepest RevPAR declines were seen in Las Vegas
(-7.9% to $196.40) and Minneapolis (-6.5% to $86.31).
Choice EMEA extends Faranda deal. Choice Hotels EMEA and Spain’s
Faranda Hotels & Resorts have signed a new long-term strategic agreement
that will see Choice Hotels expand its Spanish portfolio through the addition
of eight properties, comprising more than 700 rooms. All hotels will join under
the Ascend Hotel Collection, with the first six hotels open for bookings,
including Faranda’s new flagship hotel – Faranda Hotel Rias Altas, Ascend Hotel
Collection in A Coruña. Two further hotels are currently undergoing full
refurbishment and are expected to open in Summer 2025. This new agreement in
Spain extends the existing franchise relationship between Choice Hotels and
Faranda Hotels in South America, which will now comprise 22 hotels with nearly
2,400 rooms with Choice Hotels and Faranda aiming to further grow in Spain. Choice
Hotels EMEA currently counts nearly 400 open hotels located in 17
countries.
Robust LatAm pipeline. The Latin America pipeline currently
stands at 642 projects and 104,513 rooms, representing robust year-over-year
increases of 11% in project count and 10% in room count, according to Lodging
Econometrics. At the close of Q3 2024, Latin America had 269 projects with
47,151 rooms under projects scheduled to start construction within the next 12
months grew to 183 projects and 30,184 rooms, up 7% by project count and 9% by
room count YOY. Even the early planning pipeline expanded, increasing 17% YoY
to 190 projects and 11% YoY to 27,178 rooms. The upscale (134 projects/18,592
rooms), luxury (121 projects/24,924 rooms, and upper upscale (104
projects/21,300 rooms) chain scales emerged with the largest pipelines. Mexico
(229 projects/35,975 rooms) and Brazil (103 projects/15,731 rooms) accounted
for a significant 52% of the total project count and 50% of the room count. The
Dominican Republic followed with an all-time high of 59 projects/14,407 rooms,
then Colombia with 27 projects/3,671 rooms. Looking ahead, LE's projections
point to a sustained growth trajectory, with 108 new hotels and 19,551 rooms
forecast to open in 2025, followed by a further increase to 138 new hotels and
19,513 rooms in 2026.
Sofitel for Vietnam. Accor has signed a deal with the
Vietnamese developer Alphanam Group to create in the highlands of Northern
Vietnam the Sofitel Sapa Hotel & Residences. This project will be a combine
at 176 rooms and 436 branded residences and is expected to open in 2030.
Pullman coming to Perth airport. Perth Airport in Australia has announced a partnership with Accor to operate the Pullman Perth Airport Hotel. Scheduled to open in 2027, the hotel will be the first on the airport's estate, offering 240 rooms and suites, a rooftop restaurant and a bar. Accor’s Pullman brand has more than 20 hotels and resorts in Australia and New Zealand. The new Pullman Perth Airport will become the fourth Pullman airport hotel in the Pacific. Accor is also expanding its Pullman brand in China, with a new development project signed in June in Tai’erzhuang, Shandong.