Latest global news on development, M&A and data.
Maui declines; Oahu gains. In CoStar data for the week of
August 6-12, as a result of the tragic fires in Hawaii, Maui Island reported significant year-over-year declines in
occupancy (-22.6% to 57.1%) and RevPAR (-21.7% to $389.92). It also reported that Oahu has seen
occupancy tick up 6.7 percentage points week over week to a very strong 88.6%
as more people evacuate from Maui. For the U.S. in general, occupancy was flat year over year at 68.3%; ADR was up 2% to $156.47; and RevPAR was also up 2% at $106.89. Among the Top 25 Markets, Los Angeles saw
the largest year-over-year growth in each of the key performance metrics:
occupancy (+13.5% to 82.6%), ADR (+8.4% to $222.98) and RevPAR (+23.0% to
$184.16), helped by Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. New York City posted the second-highest
performance increases: occupancy (+7.3% to 83.6%), ADR (+8.3% to $258.39) and
RevPAR (+16.3% to $216.06). St. Louis saw the steepest RevPAR decline (-22.1%
to $63.80).
Expedia optimistic about fall. According to the Fall Travel
Forecast released today by Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo, the surge in travel
demand seen over the summer is projected to continue into the cooler months,
with the travel brands showing year-over-year search increases for fall
getaways. According to Expedia, flight searches for fall are up 15%, and
hotel searches increased 20% compared to fall 2022. New York City, Paris,
London, Las Vegas and San Diego are among the most searched destinations for
couples traveling this fall on the Hotels.com app.
US-China flights. The U.S. and China will approve twice the
number of passenger flights currently permitted for air carriers to fly between
the two countries, the Biden administration has stated. The U.S. Transportation Department (USDOT)
said it will increase the number of Chinese passenger flights allowed to fly to
the U.S. to 18 weekly roundtrips on September 1 and increase that to 24 per
week starting October 29, up from the current 12. It said China will agree to
the same increase for American carriers. USDOT said the first tranche of
flights was approved to meet an anticipated increase in demand around the start
of the academic year. Sources said U.S. airlines are not expected to
immediately take advantage of all 18 weekly flights.
TUI growth. TUI Hotels & Resorts TUI Blue brand has
added 13 management and franchise agreements in the past few weeks, bringing
the number of planned hotel openings to 22 hotels in 13 countries with a focus
on holiday destinations in Asia and Africa. The brand is also expanding for the
first time in Bali and The Gambia, as well as expanding in Vietnam. Seven
openings are currently planned for the coming year in China, Cambodia, Vietnam
and The Gambia.
Blue Diamond growth. Blue Diamond Resorts is expanding to
Antigua with the 235-room, all-inclusive Royalton CHIC Antigua set to open in early
April 2024.