Among the noteworthy quotes from this week's stories was R.W. Baird's Michael Bellisario estimating the impact of the newly announced tariffs by the Trump administration.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“All else equal, the cost to build a hotel could be ~5%-10% higher now (on top
of the 20% tariff that was already in place for goods sourced from China). More
key money could help fill some of that gap for developers to make the math
pencil, but the more likely outcome is that fewer projects will get signed and
started over the near term, in our opinion.” – Michael Bellisario, R.W.
Baird Read story
“While these brands bring exciting growth opportunities,
their relative unfamiliarity can create hurdles in securing funding. Our goal
is to help owners overcome these challenges and get their hotels built, open
and operating successfully. It fills a critical market gap at a time when
demand for financing solutions is growing.” – Lori Tirado-Celniker. IHG Read story
“The niche for us is really on that mid- to small-school
side, where the school is going to own the asset and they need the hospitality
expertise, either in development or operations, and that’s why we will continue
to chase private development opportunities on college markets.” – John
Schultzel, Olympia Hospitality Read
story
“To drive gross operating profit today, you need a top-down
revenue mindset. Sales teams must lead with selling premium rooms and
experiences that create demand – especially during compressed booking windows. When
done well, these experiences deliver what I call the trifecta of value: magical
value, meaningful value, and surplus value. The guest is surprised, served, and
delighted beyond expectation — and that’s what brings them back.” Edward Mady,
Edward Mady LLC Read story
“We continue to be opportunistic. We’re spending a lot of
time in Europe, even further out past Europe in some cases. We’re not quite
there yet, but we hope to have more transaction volume in those parts of the
world. We’re excited. We’re going to stay optimistic and stick to what we know.”
– Alessandro Colantonio, Gencom Read
story
“Now we can provide owners an option to have a nice property
and still make money. Because if they can’t grow their reserves and they can’t
reinvest in the property, it’s all tied together. It gives you a chance to keep
those owners.” – Dan Hansen, Hyatt Hotels Corp. Read story
“Japan has been one of the strongest markets in Asia but
unlike in the rest of the world, interest rates there are actually increasing
[impacting borrowing costs]. It’s also very competitive to buy an asset there.”
– Gerald Lee, Far East Hospitality Trust
Read story
“European hotel investment is likely to ramp up in 2025,
with significant growth in the proportion of investors planning to deploy at
least as much capital, if not more, in the year to come.” – John Hubbard,
Cushman & Wakefield Read story
“There was significantly greater activity in Africa last
year, both in deal-making and in properties opening – but we do need more. The
development pipeline averages about 10 per country on the continent, and the
opening of hotels and resorts last year averaged just over one per country.
Both metrics are about one-tenth of global averages. We’re getting there, the
number of hotels and resorts that opened in 2024 was double the previous year’s
figure, and I think that could double again this year.” – Trevor Ward, W
Hospitality Group Read story