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1. Positive Performance Trends Pave Way for Hotel Deals
Hotel News Now's Stephanie Ricca, Sean McCracken and Bryan Wroten report from the 2022 Americas Lodging Investment Summit that hotel executives are optimistic about the recovery of hotel demand and performance and eager to make deals, either in acquiring properties or in acquiring other companies.
For more coverage of the conference, check back with Hotel News Now.
2. TPG Strikes Deal To Acquire Marshall Hotels and Resorts
The acquisition appetite of hospitality companies is evident in a deal in which TPG Hotels, Resorts and Marinas will purchase Marshall Hotels and Resorts.
The deal was discussed during the Lodging Industry Investment Council meeting, in conjunction with ALIS, HNN reports.
Robert Leven, chief investment officer and principal at TPG Hotels and Resorts, said: "On the management side, you may have seen we just announced the purchase of Marshall Hotels and Resorts, which is a fairly large company — 100% third-party management business. With the discussion here [at LIIC], I'm wondering if I should be selling as opposed to buying management. We were fortunate to make that happen."
Marshall Hotels and Resorts is a third-party management company based in Salisbury, Maryland, and hotel management company TPG is headquartered in Cranston, Rhode Island. No price was disclosed for the deal.
3. Federal Reserve Could Enact Four Interest-Rate Hikes in 2022
Goldman Sachs analysts are predicting that the surge in inflation could prompt the Federal Reserve to become more aggressive and enact at least four interest-rate hikes this year, CNBC reports.
“Our baseline forecast calls for four hikes in March, June, September and December,” Goldman Sachs' economist David Mericle said in a Saturday note to clients. “But we see a risk that the [Federal Open Market Committee] will want to take some tightening action at every meeting until the inflation picture changes.”
4. Sales of Commercial Real Estate Properties Set Record
Property investors in the U.S. set a record during 2021 for commercial-property sales, as buyers loaded up on warehouses, apartment buildings and resorts and vacation-oriented hotels amid the leisure travel boom, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Spencer Levy, senior economic adviser at real estate firm CBRE Group told the news outlet that the pandemic has accelerated these trends.
"Overall, commercial-property sales totaled a record $809 billion in 2021, according to data firm Real Capital Analytics. That was nearly double 2020’s total, and it exceeded the previous record of about $600 billion in 2019," the news outlet reports.
5. UK To End Travel Testing Requirements for the Vaccinated
COVID-19 travel testing requirements for the vaccinated are coming to an end in the United Kingdom, the Associated Press reports.
The change is expected to take effect Feb. 11, and many in the travel industry are praising the decision.
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of airline industry body Airlines U.K., said it was “a landmark day.”
“Nearly two years since the initial COVID restrictions were introduced, [Monday's] announcement brings international travel towards near-normality for the fully vaccinated, and at last into line with hospitality and the domestic economy,” he said.