The beginning of 2013 has yielded fruitful growth in the U.S. hotel industry, which will continue—albeit slowly—into the rest of the year and 2014, according to a Market Forecast & Hotel Industry Outlook Webinar hosted by STR and Tourism Economics. STR is the parent company of HotelNewsNow.com.
Even though the U.S. is in a period of austerity, gross-domestic-product growth will be just over 2% this year and accelerate to 3% during the next year, said Adam Sacks, founder and managing director of Tourism Economics.
During the first quarter of 2013, the hotel industry’s 6.4% increase in revenue per available room growth was fueled by a 4.5% uptick in average daily rate, said Bobby Bowers, senior VP of STR.
Overall, Bowers said, “we had a really good start to 2013,” and although room supply growth is creeping higher, it’s still not a huge threat. The focus going forward will be on ADR driving RevPAR, he added.
The U.S. travel industry is poised for one the strongest summers in history as demand soars and travelers reinvest in their vacation plans, said top travel executives from Best Western International and the U. S. Travel Association at the eighth annual Leisure Travel Summit in New York last week, according to a news release.
Best Western is tracking a 3% to 4% growth in summer hotel rates for its 2,200 hotels in North America and is predicting a strong summer travel season, said Dorothy Dowling, senior VP of marketing and sales for Best Western.
Panelists agreed that both domestic and global travel is a key economic driver for the entire U.S. economy. The travel industry employs one out of eight Americans and has added 398,000 jobs since the economic recovery began in early 2010, according to the U.S Travel Association.
According to Bill Sutherland, AAA vice president of travel services, multigenerational travel will be very popular this year. In a recent AAA survey, nearly one-third of respondents plan to take a multigenerational trip in the next 12 months.
Staying in a nonsmoking room in a hotel that allows smoking elsewhere does not prevent exposure to tobacco smoke, a new study from Tobacco Control reports.
Researchers examined a sample of 10 hotels with complete smoking bans and 30 with designated smoking rooms. They analyzed air and surfaces for tobacco smoke pollutants, took finger wipe samples to measure the presence of tobacco carcinogens, and tested the urine of nonsmoking occupants after they had stayed in the rooms, according to a story in the New York Times.
Some nonsmoking rooms were low in pollutants, but at their worst, levels of tobacco air pollutants were almost five times as high in nonsmoking rooms as they were in rooms of non-smoking hotels, and pollution of surfaces was up to 25 times as high. In some cases, nonsmokers who stayed in nonsmoking rooms had signs of nicotine exposure in their urine that were more than twice as high as those of nonsmokers who stayed in nonsmoking hotels.
Young millionaires are emerging as an influential segment in the highly competitive global tourism industry, according to Starwood Hotels and Resorts, who is launching its “Generation LuXurY” concept.
Today, 85% of Starwood's luxury guests are rich travelers from Generations X and Y, and the U.S. hotel chain is positioning itself to cater to this group.
Lothar Pehl, senior VP of operations and global initiatives, Asia/Pacific, said Starwood spent time to develop the concept of "Generation LuXurY" because today's wealthy tourists are different from any generation before.
Young, wealthy travelers’ approach to luxury is less formal, more personal and defined more by interests and mindset than by geography and demographics. When the new elites travel, they don't want just only exotic destinations but also luxury and experience. They like to share with friends their travel stories online and travel is considered part of their life exploration. Starwood said.
Key industry professionals, government officials and academics recently gathered to discuss the existing skills gaps within the United Arab Emirates’ tourism and hospitality industry, which was facilitated by Dubai International Academic City.
The industry continues to be perceived as an unsuitable profession amongst the local population. The research from Deloitte, which surveyed 24,000 students from the emirates, China, India, South African and Nigeria revealed a clear skills gap in the industry.
The panel concluded that hospitality’s label as an ‘unsuitable’ profession amongst emirates would be difficult to change, and that locals’ perception of hotels as a “place to drink” was a key reason why travel and tourism courses in the United Arab Emirates struggled to attract students.
According to Dr. Ayoub Kazim, managing director of Dubai International Academic City and Dubai Knowledge Village, more than 383,000 jobs were supported by the travel industry in the region last year and that number is expected to grow 2.6% this year.
Compiled by Alissa Ponchione.