Hoteliers in Spain do not expect a good winter season, HotelNewsNow.com correspondent Benjamin Jones reports.
“The winter season will not be good for us,” Juan Molas, president of the Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Apartments, said during a news conference to present the results of the poll of the confederation’s 64 hotel member associations around the country representing 14,000 properties. “Spain’s domestic market outlook is, frankly, alarming,” he said.
Molas said Spaniards are not reserving rooms until the last minute because of financial insecurity. He added that hoteliers are not happy with regional and local governments’ cuts to promote tourism at home and abroad.
Hotels in Manhattan saw modest performance growth during the third quarter, according to a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Occupancy in Manhattan grew by 1.7% to 89.2%; average daily rate edged up by 0.4%; and revenue per available room increased by 2.2%. Digging deeper, upper-midscale hotels saw the highest RevPAR gains at 3.9% year over year, while Midtown West saw the most RevPAR improvement among Manhattan neighborhoods at 3.5%.
The PwC study also noted that Superstorm Sandy is likely to have an impact on fourth-quarter results, though full effects are not yet known.
Hoteliers appear to be taking a more relaxed attitude toward their cancellation and no-show policies, reports HotelNewsNow.com’s Stephanie Wharton.
In its 2012 Lodging Survey, the American Hotel & Lodging Association found the percentage of hotels charging for late cancellation in 2012 was 68%, down nine points from 2010.
“I think that has more to do with customer satisfaction and retention than anything else,” said Mike Marshall, president and CEO of Marshall Hotels & Resorts.
The No.1 factor inspiring people to travel are recommendations by friends and family, according to a survey of 4,600 travelers by Text100 Global Communications and RedShift Research.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents (63%) cited friends and family as sparking travel. Further, 87% of respondents said they use Facebook for travel inspiration.
Other findings from the report include:
- The opinion of travel bloggers were considered by 37% of U.S. respondents during the initial decision-making stage of holiday travel.
- More than 50% of people were likely to download travel apps before heading out on vacation.
- Nearly nine out of 10 (88%) respondents take a mobile device with them when on trips.
- More than half of respondents said they would be more likely to share their vacation experiences on social media if free Wi-Fi was provided.
Host Hotels & Resorts’ European joint venture has acquired five Whitehall hotels in Paris and Amsterdam for €440 million ($574.4 million).
The hotels acquired are the: 757-room Paris Marriott River Gauche Hotel & Conference Center; 402-room Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel; 327-room Renaissance Paris La Defense Hotel; 97-room Renaissance Paris Vendome Hotel; and the 150-room Courtyard Paris La Defense West – Colombes.
Host owns a 33.4% stake in the European joint venture.
Compiled by Shawn A. Turner