Knight Frank

Japan's Seibu Holdings will acquire NY-based Ace Group International for $90M, gaining 8-hotel portfolio including NYC, Kyoto, Brooklyn, Athens locations plus creative agency Atelier Ace. Plus more hotel deal and development news items.

JP Morgan expects strong international performance in 3Q23 RevPAR, net rooms, and pipeline growth, particularly driven by ADR gains. Truist discusses potential challenges and concerns in the Choice Hotels and Wyndham Hotels deal, including antitrust issues and franchisee resistance. US hotel industry reports a modest 0.8% YoY increase in RevPAR, with ADR compensating for soft occupancy; group RevPAR up 0.9% for the week ending 10/14.

Morgan Stanley adjusted price targets for several hotel companies, maintaining Overweight ratings for Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, and Wyndham, but lowered the price target for Park Hotels. They also raised the price target for Choice Hotels and maintained an Underweight rating on Pebblebrook Hotel Trust. Marcus Hotels & Resorts' new Chief Investment Officer, Tiffany Leadbetter Donato, aims to expand the company's hotel portfolio beyond the Midwest for greater geographic and customer diversity. Hotel del Coronado, part of Curio Collection by Hilton, is investing over $160 million to restore and revitalize its historic Victorian building in Coronado, California, with a target completion date in Spring 2025.

Hotel industry experiences mixed stock market performance, with DJIA rising while NASDAQ and S&P 500 show declines. Renovations and upgrades abound, with notable projects including the multimillion-dollar renovations of Houston Marriott South and Homewood Suites by Hilton New Orleans. Exciting developments on the horizon, such as the opening of Raffles Boston and the planned multimillion-dollar mixed-use project by Beck Ventures in Midtown Dallas.

How high will be too high for May Day Golden Week in China as reports continue to pour in about terrific business, soaring room rates, and enormous train ridership. The Macau Government Tourism Office said they were predicting 70,000 visitors a day during the holiday period. Oyo said it turned cash flow positive in the fourth quarter of FY2023 in an internal note to employees .

According to the latest STR U.S. bubble chart update , for the four weeks ending April 15, recovery growth across a range of industry indicators took a small backstep, with occupancy falling from the prior month. Each of the four world regions showed a year-over-year decline in hotel construction activity , with Asia Pacific coming closest to its 2022 comparable, according to March 2023 pipeline data from STR. The Hospitality Asset Manager Association released the results of its Spring 2023 Industry Outlook Survey .

Truist said they are finding the sentiment at the ALIS Lodging Conference as mostly positive , with lots of “hope” that the most well-anticipated recession in the history of recessions will be a mild one. STR and Tourism Economics made a modest upgrade to the 2023 U.S. hotel forecast released at ALIS. Four Seasons said they started 2023 with new leadership, brand extensions and strategic portfolio growth.

Hotel RevPAR in China was down -35.5% year over year while down -52.5% when up against the same week in 2019. Hyatt Hotels announced the opening of Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu , marking the debut of the lifestyle brand in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Absolute Hotel Services Group announced the first Absolute Collection property in Vietnam with the signing of Lamia Bao Loc Resort.

Dajia Insurance Group Co has put three hotels in the US up for sale, hoping to generate US$1.3 billion to take advantage of an expected surge in leisure travel and resort business. U.S. hotel operator Standard International is betting on Thailand’s post-pandemic tourism recovery. Bloomberg said Standard is hoping to power an expansion in Asia that will see it open properties in popular and less-explored destinations. The new $340 million dual-tower Docklands development in Melbourne, Australia will include a huge rooftop infinity pool, spanning 35 meters when it opens in 2026.

The DJIA  rose 197 points, Nasdaq was up 87, the S&P 500 rose 27 points and the 10-year treasury yield was up .04 to 3.49%. Hersha Hospitality is the latest lodging REIT to announce they have reinstated their quarterly cash dividend on the common shares. According to CBRE , Canadian hotels will return to pre-pandemic revenues next year, two years ahead of its previous forecast.