The U.S. hotel industry does the reporters covering it a courtesy of holding several conferences throughout the year, giving us front-row seats into how executives are feeling about the year as it progresses.
For the most part, at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit each January, hoteliers tend to be optimistic about a fresh start with the new year. That's not always the case, of course, but no one wants to kick off the year feeling down about their prospects.
The next big conference is the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference in Atlanta next week. Last year, the optimism from ALIS didn't quite hold over through Hunter. There were quite a few hiccups along the way, particularly the Liberation Day tariffs announced in the first few months of 2025.
The mood at ALIS this year was still pretty upbeat. Even after all of the disruptions in 2025, hotels still did well and saw improved performance toward the end of the year even with the federal government shutdown. Given the crash course in dealing with uncertainty — not so long after having learned about dealing with the pandemic-related uncertainty — hoteliers started 2026 with a degree of measured optimism.
Now, as I mentioned above, Hunter is next week. From the CoStar News Hotels team, we'll have Stephanie Ricca, Natalie Harms and Trevor Simpson in attendance, covering panels and interviewing executives.
I'm very curious to hear from them the mood at Hunter. Since ALIS, there have been some new developments both in the U.S. and globally that could have some impact on travel demand, though how much of course remains to be seen. There's also a lot going for the U.S. hotel industry this year, so there's potential for a great year.
Let the news team know how you're feeling about the year so far: the good, the bad and the meh. There's plenty of nuances and shades of gray, and knowing the details helps us more accurately cover the industry.
With all this in mind, once again, here's hoping for some stability.
You can reach me at bwroten@hotelnewsnow.com as well as on LinkedIn.
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