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1. Poor Air Conditions Continue Throughout US
Smoke moving south from wildfires in Canada continues to affect several U.S. cities and states, mostly in the East and Midwest, the Wall Street Journal reports. Even with some rain showers forecasted in the Northeast over the next two days, the air quality is expected to remain at unhealthy levels for several days.
“We’re experiencing a pretty serious health threat from air pollution across really a wide swath of the U.S.,” said Paul Billings, national senior vice president of public policy at the American Lung Association. “I think the important thing for people to do during this crisis is to take extra care to protect themselves.”
The Federal Aviation Association paused flights from multiple areas that were headed for the La Guardia Airport due to visibility issues with the smoke, the New York Times reports.
2. San Francisco Faces More Hotel Loans
Park Hotels & Resorts ceasing payments toward a $725 million non-recourse loan for two San Francisco hotels could be a worrisome sign of more to come for the California city, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. More than 30 additional San Francisco hotels are facing loans due in the next two years, and the market still lags pre-pandemic levels while many other U.S. cities have already recovered.
The lack of business travel and return to office, along with negative news about stores closing and crime, have plagued San Francisco in its pursuit of 2019 numbers. But the city could also be getting an unfair rap.
“Most downtowns are struggling with this issue [around negative perception],” said Emmy Hise, senior director of hospitality analytics at CoStar. “San Francisco has been getting a lot of the national press.”
3. Revenue Growth Projected in Hotel Industry
CoStar’s hospitality analytics firm STR shared its revised 2023 U.S. hotels forecast at the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, and the projections are pointing toward stable, positive revenue growth, HNN’s Bryan Wroten reports. But the effects of inflation could continue to limit profitability for hoteliers.
Despite a projected 5% year-over-year revenue per available room growth, STR President Amanda Hite said the projected 3.5% average daily rate growth doesn’t keep with inflation, a factor that could limit profitability. Still, industry growth during a potential downturn is change from historical performance trends.
“We are not forecasting that, even in the quarters where we think there will be GDP decline,” she said. “In the third and fourth quarter, we will have positive growth much slower than what we’ve seen in the first half of the year, but still positive for the industry.”
4. NYC Leases Hotel for Migrants
New York City will lease the Roosevelt Hotel for three years and $220 million from the state-run Pakistan International Airlines Corp., Bloomberg reports. The 1,025-room property will be used to house incoming asylum seekers.
“The New York administration will pay a rent of as much as $210 for each of the 1,025 rooms of the century-old hotel,” the news outlet reports.
5. Chicago Sets City Hotel Record
Thanks to Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” stopping in Chicago last weekend, the city set two personal hotel records: total hotel rooms occupied each night and total hotel revenue, NBC5 Chicago reports. Over the course of the weekend, there were more than 44,000 rooms occupied each night and $39 million in total hotel revenue.
“Chicago set its new all-time record for total hotel rooms occupied,” Choose Chicago, the official sales and marketing organization for the city of Chicago, said in a tweet. “This isn’t just post-pandemic — we had more rooms filled than ever in Chicago’s history!”