WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hotel asset managers have increasing hopes that their properties will exceed their original expectations for revenue growth this year, but they don't believe the World Cup is going to be a major reason for that.
The spring edition of the Hospitality Asset Managers Association's biannual survey showed an uptick in members expecting to beat budget this year for revenue per available room.
More than half of those surveyed say they expect a 1% to 3% increase in RevPAR this year, with more than 10% projecting an increase of more than 7%. Similarly, more than half of members surveyed expect the majority of their hotels to beat budgeted projections for the full year.
A similar ratio of HAMA members believe the majority of their properties will beat profit estimates for 2026 as well.
Members of HAMA's board of directors said this sentiment was somewhat surprising given it directly contrasts with decreasing hopes tied to the World Cup. The monthlong series was initially projected to buoy hotel performance across the country this summer, but hoteliers so far aren't optimistic ahead of the matches.
"By and large, we've all taken down our estimates for the summer," said Dana Winder, HAMA president and executive vice president of asset management for Highgate, noting the number of people who expect RevPAR to grow significantly has "more than doubled" since their fall survey.
Chad Sorensen, managing director and CEO of CHMWarnick, said the increased optimism might relate to this year being relatively less volatile than 2025.
"Generally speaking, [the first quarter] is playing out the way that we underwrote it as we went through the budget," he said. "Q1 2025 did not play out the way we budgeted and underwrote it. So it's not like the industry has been set on fire."
At this point last year, hoteliers were afraid of the effects widespread tariffs and the resulting economic upheaval would have on their businesses, HAMA members pointed out. This year's prevailing concerns revolve more on the potential of a demand-inducing event — the World Cup — not coming in as strong as originally hoped.
While performance in the first quarter varied greatly from market to market — HotelAVE Senior Vice President John Paulsen noted the Northeast in particular faced some challenges, including snow storms in the first quarter — pessimism around the World Cup seems to be an almost universal phenomenon.
"I think we've all taken it down in terms of what we thought we would do," he said. "It's not the home run we were hoping for, but maybe it's a double."
Sorensen noted the World Cup is challenging not only because demand has come in lighter than expected but also because it chased away other forms of demand.
Much like the fall 2025 iteration of the survey, demand remains the top concern among respondents, although only slightly more than 60% now rank it as a concern compared to almost 80% in the fall. Other top concerns include the war in Iran and wage increases, neither of which were among the top three concerns for hotel asset managers in the fall.
Asset managers seem to be broadly optimistic about the economy, with the number of them expecting the U.S. economy to fall into a recession in 2026 falling to less than 20%. That's roughly half the number of those who expected that in the fall.
There's also been an uptick in asset managers who say they are "actively pursuing acquisitions," which now comes in at over 70%.
Sorensen noted that is tied in part to monetary policy and how fewer investors are feeling inclined to sit and hope for better interest rates.
"The capital markets are where they're at, and it's not like you can wait it out," he said. "That's what's forcing some of these [deals]. They've just run out of runway, and it's not like anybody believes there's going to be anything much different in the capital market in the next few months."