In this bonus episode of "Tell Me More: A Hospitality Data Podcast," CoStar National Director of Hospitality Analytics Jan Freitag and STR Vice President of Analytics Isaac Collazo answer listener questions on topics that range from sustainability to what surprised them the most about the hotel industry in 2023.
On whether sustainability will finally take a more forward position in the hotel industry in the future, Freitag encouraged listeners to frame their thinking around resilience.
“Climate change is real. Storms are getting stronger. How does the hotel industry prepare for this?” he asked.
Collazo added that he “always finds it interesting when things go awry and there’s no plan.” He said that to weather these literal and internal storms and challenges in the future, hoteliers need plans to cover all situations.
“Plan, plan, plan. I think that’s going to be our new mantra going forward,” he said.
Pivoting to the question of when U.S. hoteliers can expect international inbound travel to return, Freitag predicted that if 2023 was the year of the outbound revenge traveler, 2024 may be the year international travelers finally return to the U.S.
Collazo added that “exchange rates are moderating and inflation is moderating so things that may have kept people away” won’t necessarily be hindrances moving forward. He also reminded listeners that airlines continue to add routes, hopefully smoothing flight prices out.
Freitag cited the U.S. International Trade Administration’s APIS/I-92 Monitor, an online database allowing users to analyze U.S. international air traffic data and see data on the number of U.S. travelers flying internationally and vice versa.
“The number of Americans going abroad compared to 2019 is up 15%, sometimes 20%, but the number of international travelers coming to the U.S. is down 10% to 15% compared to 2019,” he said. The tool is especially useful for hoteliers because not only can you look at countrywide trends, but you can also pair cities to see, for example, the number of people flying from London to New York.
To answer the reader question, “What surprised you the most about 2023?” Collazo pointed to the overall softness of domestic demand, while Freitag echoed many in the industry who have been surprised that distressed hotel buying opportunities have not yet materialized.
Listen to the podcast for their complete answers, as well as their replies to a final surprise question.
To submit your question for a future episode of “Tell Me More,” email it to Hotel News Now Editorial Director Stephanie Ricca.
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