From the desks of the HotelNewsNow.com editorial staff: • U.S. private sector employment declines in September; • Marriott launches Edition Waikiki; • Sydney hotels safe from oversupply; • IHG tops hotel debt-to-capital ratio analysis; and • Commonwealth Games disappoint Delhi hoteliers.
By Stacey Mieyal Higgins
October 6, 2010 | 7:34 P.M.
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Private-sector employment decreased by 39,000 from August to September on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the latest ADP National Employment Report. The estimated change of employment from July to August was revised up from the previously reported decline of 10,000 to an increase of 10,000.
The decline in private employment in September confirms a pause in the economic recovery already evident in other data. A deceleration of employment occurred in all the major sectors shown in The ADP Report and for all sizes of payroll. The September decline in employment followed seven monthly increases from February through August. However, during those seven months, the average monthly gain in employment was 34,000. There simply is no momentum in employment.
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While we anxiously await third-quarter results from Marriott International after the closing bell today, there are a few things we can talk about with more certainty. The first boutique Edition property, representing the unlikely partnership between Marriott and Ian Schrager, had its soft opening a week ago and an official opening party will take place 15 October, according to Marriott public relations. The Waikiki Edition has 353 rooms and suites.
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Sydney’s hotel market made it through the global financial crisis relatively unscathed, according to a market report from HotelNewsNow.com’s finance editor Shawn A. Turner.
Supply slowed to a crawl during the past few years, according to GMs, hoteliers and others in the city’s hotel sector. There were 8.9 million rooms in the market August year-to-date, up 0.4% from 2009, according to STR Global.
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Five companies stood out in the hotels, resorts and cruise lines industry with the highest debt-to-capital ratios, according to a SmarTrend story. The debt-to-capital ratio is an important measure of how a company is financing its operations and provides insight into its financial strength, relative to other companies in its industry.
The debt-to-capital ratios were: Intercontinental Hotels Group, 85.94%; Great Wolf Resorts, 73.99%; Bluegreen, 70.46%; Marriott International, 70.40%; and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, 63.22%.
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The Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, seem to be a disappointment for local hoteliers, according to a story in The Business Standard.
The story claims 125 hotels in the city had reserved around 60% of rooms, more than 6,000 rooms, with the Games Travel Office. More than 50% of the rooms or around 3,000 rooms that had been reserved were handed back to the hotels.
