Read the latest hotel industry news from around the Americas region.

Las Vegas is showing no signs of a slow down in tourism and commercial real estate investment activity as major events, such as Formula One and the Super Bowl, ramp things up. Analysts and hoteliers say Sin City has yet to hit its peak.

Michael Petrivelli, CoStar’s Nevada and Utah director of market analytics, said the economic impact from these events is undeniable. Gaming Revenue from F1 surged to $1.37 billion, which is an increase of 13% from November 2022.

"Thanks to historic tourism and tax collection numbers, the Nevada state budget actually had $50 million surplus last year and $200 million more than previously projected for its two-year budget," he added. "Currently, they're working with the largest state budget in history."

Resorts World Las Vegas Chief Marketing Officer Ronn Nicolli said the resort is strategically putting programming in place for demand around mega events, including the Super Bowl.

"Vegas really has eliminated what used to be seasonality. It feels that consistently the entire year is busy, and that's somewhat new," he said. "It matured through '22 and we saw increases, but we didn't know if that was just revenge spend. But '23 showed us a real next evolution in the growth of Las Vegas as a travel destination. In '24, it doesn't seem to be slowing at all. The group business and convention business is only expanding."

Hoteliers and brokers say Canada's hotel industry will continue to outperform the broader economy. Investor interest is also high despite demand in some segments lagging.

Hotels in Ontario's secondary and tertiary markets such as Belleville and Sarnia are experiencing a rise in demand. These cities are have a broad mix of drivers including leisure, cross-border travel, sports tourism and more.

"When you look at Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, some of the major markets, visitation certainly is still not quite returned to pre-pandemic levels and you're seeing that in the softening of demand there. Destination Toronto had [said] that international visitors still remain about 25% below 2019 levels. Yes, there is still concern that [the] global traveler hasn't returned, but you can look at it as an opportunity, too. We've seen an increase in domestic travel and once this international traveler returns, that just means continued growth," Sylvia Occhiuzzi, senior vice president of Beechwood Real Estate Advisors Brokerage, said during CoStar's Canada Hospitality Outlook webinar.

In December, Los Angeles City Council passed its Responsible Hotels Ordinance that requires developers to replace affordable housing that has been displaced by new hotel developments. A law such as this is another deterrent for developers in the area as the appetite for building in Los Angeles is already low.

“When we’re talking about the city of Los Angeles, it was already down to zero, and now this is minus,” said Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group, a real estate brokerage that focuses on California hotel deals.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and lifestyle hospitality group SBE launched a lifestyle brand under the working title Project HQ Hotels & Residences meant to target millennial and Generation Z travelers. The brand will join Wyndham's Registry Collection Hotels brand and the loyalty platform Wyndham Rewards. All properties will be managed by SBE.

“We feel really, really curious about how to be relevant within that ever-growing and fast-growing segment,” SBE Founder and CEO Sam Nazarian said. “We thought, ‘OK, we have this connectivity to a very unique and coveted audience that really has been going to Airbnb and more bespoke hospitality destinations; why don’t we really look at a category within lifestyle that complements what we did for the last 20 years in luxury to really focus on a new category called smart lifestyle?’”

The brand plans to open 50 hotels by 2030, have 50% of its properties in the U.S. and 50% international.

• Transwestern Hospitality Group purchased the 122-room Hotel Granduca Houston for an undisclosed price. The hotel is being renovated and will be be operated by Westmont Hospitality Group.
• Peachtree Hotel Group acquired the 180-room Hilton Garden Inn Denver Tech Center for $18 million from Chatham Lodging Trust.
• Crescent Real Estate purchased the 107-room Home2 Suites by Hilton Avalon in Alpharetta, Georgia, for $21.3 million from RAM Hotels Management.
• Apple Hospitality REIT entered the Las Vegas market with the purchase of the 299-room SpringHill Suites Marriott Las Vegas Convention Center Hotel for $75 million from GEM Realty Capital.
• Morguard Corp. sold a portfolio of 14 hotels for $410 million to an institutional purchaser. The portfolio is comprised of Marriott International, Hilton, IHG Hotels & Resorts and independent hotels across Canada.
• Leanne Harwood, has been appointed senior vice president and managing director of luxury and lifestyle for the Americas effective March 1.
  
• Jeff Doane is the new chief commercial officer of Omni Hotels & Resorts.
  
• Jimmy Sarfraz has been named general manager of the 562-room Conrad New York Midtown.
  
• A 1,743-room Ava Resort Cancun will open its doors this summer just 10 minutes away from the Cancun International Airport. The property is designed by Boris Pena Architects.
• The Pfister Hotel Milwaukee is entering its second phase of a $20 million renovation, expected to be completed in early summer.
• JLL's Hotels & Hospitality Group arranged the sale and acquisition of financing of a portfolio of two Hyatt-branded hotels totaling 275 rooms in San Juan Puerto Rico for an undisclosed price. The hotels are the 149-room Hyatt Place San Juan and the 126-room Hyatt House San Juan. The seller was PRISA Group with McV Consulting and the buyer was JRK Property Holdings.

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