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An estimated shortage of 546,000 construction workers in the U.S. for 2023 is raising concerns that "the federal government's ambitious infrastructure plan and other construction spending plans" could be stalled, Bisnow reports.

“We’re putting millions and millions of dollars into infrastructure without anybody to install it,” Home Builders Institute CEO Ed Brady told the Financial Times. “A shovel-ready project with nobody to operate the shovel is worthless.”

Hiring will have to exceed the normal pace to keep up, Bisnow reports, but "the shortages are nothing new for the industry."

In 2022, the construction industry averaged more than 390,000 job openings each month, the highest level on record, and construction industry unemployment was 4.6%, the second-lowest on record, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors.

Convention-center attendance in January was 25.3% lower than pre-pandemic January 2020 levels, CoStar's Lou Hirsh reports from data collected by analytics firm Placer.ai.

That gap was smaller in December, when attendance was down 14.2% from pre-pandemic levels.

As an example of the recovery of conventions business, researchers cited January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which typically ranks among the world's largest technology conventions.

"The show drew 175,000 visitors in 2019, but that dropped to 40,000 in 2022 as COVID surges encouraged many to attend the conference virtually," according to Hirsh's report. "Attendance rebounded at this year’s show but fell short of pre-pandemic attendance at around 100,000."

In its fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 earnings report, IHG Hotels & Resorts showed revenue per available room still lags pre-pandemic levels in many markets, but Chief Financial Officer Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson said 2023 could shape up to be a good year "if the rate environment stays the same."

On a call with analysts to discuss results, CEO Keith Barr added that "Pricing power is being clearly demonstrated and expected to be sustained."

IHG grew its global portfolio by 4.3% in 2022 to 912,000 rooms across 6,164 hotels. Accounting for the firm's exit from Russia and other rooms deletions, IHG's available rooms still increased by 0.5% in 2022. RevPAR, meanwhile, was down 3.3% globally compared to 2019.

The top 25 hotel markets in the U.S. outperformed all other markets in January, according to the latest monthly results from STR, CoStar's hospitality analytics firm. The results reflected "continued improvement in business travel and groups," STR said in a news release.

However, some top 25 markets continued to struggle — notably Chicago, which reported the lowest occupancy in the group at 42.7%; and San Francisco, where hotel occupancy in January was 25.4% lower than it was in 2019.

The U.S. hotel industry as a whole reported 52.8% occupancy for the month, down 3% from 2019 levels. Higher average daily rate — up 13.8% from 2019 to $142.14 — drove revenue per available room of $75.01, a 10.4% premium over January 2019.

MGM Resorts International reduced water usage across all of its global operations by 37% between 2007 and 2021, and is now the first gaming company among more than 230 companies worldwide to endorse the United Nations' CEO Water Mandate, according to a company news release.

"From the iconic Bellagio Fountains to landscaping and pools, water management is a key component of MGM Resorts' overall social impact and sustainability efforts," the release states.

Water conservation efforts across the company's global operations, according to the release, include:

• "Replacing over 200,000 square feet of real grass with drought-tolerant landscaping in Las Vegas.
• Installing water-efficient fixtures and equipment in guest rooms, kitchens and laundry facilities.
• Use of an onsite well and pool drainage from the 'O' Theater as source water for Lake Bellagio.
• Enhancing the efficiency of Las Vegas cooling tower systems to reduce evaporative loss."

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