Ennismore

Marriott International, Sonesta International Hotel Corporation, and Pyramid Global Hospitality , announced plans for expansion and introduced new brands in different locations, including Latin America, Canada, and several U.S. states. Accor highlighted the progress of its branded residences business, with numerous projects under development worldwide, including Dubai, Australia, and South Korea. The Plasencia Group facilitated the sale of The Westin Tampa Bay, and Dan Hansen returned from retirement to lead Hyatt's new mid-market extended-stay brand, Hyatt Studios, with a significant development pipeline.

Chinese domestic tourism rebounds strongly, reaching 119% of pre-pandemic levels during the May Day holiday, while international travel remains slow. Fitch Ratings highlights the encouraging recovery trajectory of the domestic tourism industry, driven by pent-up demand and limited outbound flight options. Despite the increase in domestic trips, spending remains nearly flat due to factors such as low-income travelers, visits to lower-tier cities, and short-distance trips.

The big news was a rumor with the Wall Street Journal reporting Choice Hotels is making a move to acquire Wyndham Hotels & Resorts . Truist upped their price target on Hyatt Hotels to $149 from $145. This follows H’s Investor Day and the tours of Apple Leisure Group resorts. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust gave their monthly update saying for 2Q23, overall demand and profitability trends continue to remain within expectations .

Last week BP plc completed the acquisition of TravelCenter of America Inc . Service Properties Trust received $379.3 million in cash as part of the transaction. Sonder Holdings was cut to Perform from Outperform by Oppenheimer and InterContinental Hotels Group was upgraded to Neutral from Sell by Redburn. The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index rose 1.4% in April from March. The Hotel Brand sub-index rose 2.5% from March while the Hotel REIT sub-index was down -2.6%.

Soho House reported mostly in-line estimates. Adjusted EBITDA was in line despite revenue being slightly lower than expectations. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Hyatt to $142 from $139 while maintaining their Overweight rating. Marriott International announced a 30% increase in their quarterly dividend, to $0.52 a share.

CBRE released its US Hotels State of the Union March 2023 Edition . Key takeaways include February marked nine consecutive months of easing inflation. Baird said that with industry wide March RevPAR being better than expected, it de-risked 1Q23 earnings a bit, and the trade is likely higher into the earnings prints. Jefferies said they continue to believe Host Hotels is best-positioned among peers to generate growth and expanding cash flows irrespective of macro challenges and has yet to receive valuation credit.

Nepal hotels are complaining they are not seeing the deluge of reservations they would expect at this time of year. Asset World Public Company Limited signed a hotel management agreement with IHG to launch the Kimpton Pattaya and further demonstrate confidence in Thailand’s tourism industry. ANA Holdings and IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan signed a comprehensive commercial agreement.

Oxford Economics said tourist arrivals into the Asia Pacific region are tipped to reach around 50% of pre-Covid levels in 2023. China will resume issuing visas to foreign tourists for the first time since the pandemic broke out more than three years ago. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has recently unveiled two new hotels in Australasia with the latest being TRYP by Wyndham Pulteney Street Adelaide .

In a day that was everything that was expected, the financial indexes and individual stocks were whipsawed. B.Riley lowered their price target on Ashford Hospitality Trust to $6.50 from $9. They maintained their Neutral rating. Jon Bortz , chairman of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust has been on a bit of an insider buying spree the past few weeks. He has purchased a total of 64,000 shares between 2/28 and 3/9 at prices ranging from $14.30 to $14.67.

H ilton’s Asia Pacific president, Alan Watts , told Nikkei Asia that they expect hotel guest numbers in China to return to their pre-pandemic levels by year-end . The Macau Daily Times said they are being told the recent spike in hotel room prices in Macau is driving international visitors away. SJM Holdings Ltd said they plan to launch the remainder of the hotel room inventory at its Grand Lisboa Palace on Cotai in Macau  within the next quarter.