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1. Hong Kong To Scrap Limits on Restaurant Hours
In a cautious push toward relaxing COVID-19 restrictions on the hospitality industry, Hong Kong's government will end limits on hours of operation for restaurants and bars starting Nov. 3, Bloomberg reports.
Currently, restaurants are restricted from providing dine-in services after midnight, and bars must close at 2 a.m.
Among other changes, the new rules will permit guests at weddings and other social events to remove masks for photos. However, limits will remain on the number of guests and patrons — no more than 12 people per table at catering premises, and no more than six per table at bars, pubs and nightclubs.
2. Third-Quarter Results Boost Confidence at Hilton, Accor
Executives of hotel brand companies have been enthusiastic so far this earnings season, with Hilton and Accor the latest to report hotel revenue per available room in excess of 2019 levels for the third quarter.
Though Hilton did not offer guidance on expectations for 2023 performance, President and CEO Chris Nassetta said "the fundamentals are currently pretty strong," HNN's Sean McCracken reports.
"We have headwinds and tailwinds," he said. "The headwinds are the macro. The world is slowing down, right? ... But we have tailwinds. The tailwinds are spending more on experiences, international travel, pent-up demand and the incremental demand associated with people having to run their businesses, gather, and meetings and events of all sorts — whether it's social or business. At the moment, those tailwinds are stronger than the headwinds."
For Accor, the third quarter marked the second consecutive improvement over 2019 RevPAR. Chief Financial Officer and Deputy CEO Jean-Jacques Morin credited the increase to summer performance that was "just gorgeous."
“The level of activity that we had at summer and the pricing level ... were just astounding,” he said, referring to performance at the firm's hotels in Europe and the Americas.
3. Lifestyle Hotel Firm Selina Goes Public
London-based Selina has officially become a publicly traded hospitality company with the completion of a merger with special purpose acquisition company BOA Acquisition Corp., HNN's Trevor Simpson reports.
Selina began trading on the Nasdaq index today under the ticker symbol "SLNA." The deal to merge with BOA was announced in December 2021, and at the time, the value of the combined company was estimated at $1.2 billion.
“Today marks a major milestone for Selina, as we complete our goal of becoming a publicly traded company and embark on our next chapter of growth,” Rafael Museri, co-founder and CEO of Selina, said in a news release. “The completion of this transaction is further validation of our highly differentiated hospitality offering, we can scale the brand and our unique destinations to travelers and locals around the world like never before. We look forward to leveraging this capital to drive long-term profitable growth, introduce new offerings that facilitate meaningful connections, and enhance our technology to support our rapid global expansion.”
Museri spoke with HNN's Dana Miller at the NYU International Hospitality Investment Conference about Selina's growth prospects and unique appeal to the "digital nomad" guest demographic.
4. Apple REIT Buys Two AC Hotels for $85 Million
Apple Hospitality REIT has acquired the AC Hotel by Marriott Louisville Downtown for $51 million and the AC Hotel by Marriott Pittsburgh Downtown for $34 million, according to a news release.
The sale prices represent a per-key price of $327,000 for the Louisville hotel and $254,000 for the Pittsburgh hotel.
According to the news release, the 156-room AC Hotel Louisville Downtown opened in April 2018 on East Market Street in Louisville, Kentucky, "within the vibrant East Market District, also known as NuLu for New Louisville ... [and] benefits from a variety of leisure, academic and sports-related demand generators."
The 134-room AC Hotel Pittsburgh Downtown opened in July 2018 on Smallman Street in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, "adjacent to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and near the many restaurants, shops, art galleries, theaters, parks and riverfront walking trails of downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, Market Square and Strip District."
5. Weekly US Hotel Performance Improves Versus 2019
U.S. hotel industry performance for the week of Oct. 22 was down slightly from the week before but showed improvement compared to the same week in 2019, according to the latest data from CoStar hospitality analytics firm STR.
Occupancy for the week was just under 70%, down only half a percent from the comparable week in 2019. Average daily rate continued to drive performance, up 16.7% over 2019 to $157.43 — which led to a 16.1% improvement in revenue per available room over 2019 to $110.11.
Two markets in Florida, Tampa and Miami, led the U.S. in occupancy and ADR comparisons to 2019, respectively. Tampa's 75.9% occupancy for the week was a 7.4% improvement over the same week in 2019. Miami hotels achieved ADR of $221.59 for the week, a 32.8% increase over 2019.