International travel important to Chinese travelers: Hotels.com’s “Chinese International Travel Monitor 2016” shows that Chinese travelers, especially millennials, are interested in traveling internationally, Jing Daily reports.
Hotels.com surveyed 3,000 outbound travelers and 92% said they “planned to either spend more or the same amount on trips in the next year.”
Last year, 120 million Chinese travelers took trips abroad, and hotels booked by millennials has increased by 12%, Jing Daily reports.
How hoteliers can connect organically on LinkedIn: Hoteliers are using LinkedIn to recruit talent, share content, connect with potential business partners and search for new jobs, HNN’s Stephanie Ricca reports. The focus on LinkedIn is the latest addition to HNN’s “State of Social Media” Special Report.
Hoteliers said they’re connecting with others on the platform by promoting the company story, establishing subject matter expertise, recruiting employees and marketing themselves organically, and thinking about how business partners perceive them on LinkedIn.
“My main objective on LinkedIn is to promote the company, what we do and, more importantly, how and why we do it,” said David Roedel, managing member of Roedel Companies. “I’m very conscious that what I post is in line with our strategic plan, core values and why we do the work we do. It’s all about team process, recognition and getting things done. Every post should tie back to our reason for getting up in the morning and going to work.”
AccorHotels names new COO of Americas: AccorHotels has appointed Kevin Frid as the chief operating officer for North and Central America, according to a news release. Frid previously served as president of the Americas for FRHI Hotels & Resorts.
Frid, who has 30 years of experience in the industry, will be responsible for the operation of 88 hotels in the Americas, and is one of the first senior management positions appointed since AccorHotels acquired FRHI Hotels, which was finalized 12 July.
Myrtle Beach hotels had soft start to summer: Hotels and resorts in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had a rough performance start to the summer but are starting to do better because tourist season is reaching its height, The Charlotte Observer reports.
Occupancy rates across the industry were down between 1% and 2% early on in summer tourism season, Taylor Damonte, director of the Brittain Center for Resort Tourism at Coastal Carolina University, told the newspaper. Occupancy at nine Myrtle Beach properties owned by Wyndham Vacation Rentals was down 5% from April through June, according to company VP of operations Kim Sanborn.
Hoteliers in the area said false reports on ocean water quality and changing school schedules could have been the cause for a slower start to the summer season.
Q2 2016 U.S. hotel performance: The U.S. hotel industry saw growth in each of the three key metrics during the second quarter of 2016, according to data from STR, HNN’s parent company.
Occupancy was almost flat, increasing 0.6% to 69.4%, and average daily rate was up 2.9% to $124.47. Revenue per available room was up 3.5% to $86.33.
Industry demand, which increased 2.1%, outpaced supply (+1.5%).
“Demand and occupancy were the highest STR has ever recorded for a second quarter,” said Bobby Bowers, STR’s SVP for operations. “At the same time, hoteliers did not appear to take advantage of that pricing power as the 2.9% increase in ADR was the lowest of any quarter since the fourth quarter of 2010. As a result, the 3.5% lift in RevPAR was the lowest for a second quarter since 2009.”
Complied by Danielle Hess.