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1. UK Economy Sluggish but Outperforms January Expectations
The United Kingdom economy grew by 0.3% in January, sluggish but better than many economists predicted, according to the government’s official statistician, the Office for National Statistics in its latest numbers. In December, the U.K. economy contracted by 0.5%. The government is set to unveil its latest budget on March 15.
Politicians are arguing as to whether this means confidence has returned or not. The ONS added the services sector is the impetus behind the January growth, with the “largest contributions … coming from education, transport and storage, human health activities and arts, entertainment and recreation activities, all of which have rebounded after falls in December 2022.”
It said the largest contribution to the growth in consumer-facing services came from sports, amusement and recreation activities, which grew by 8.9% as “Premier League football resumed a full schedule of fixtures after matches were postponed in December 2022 for the FIFA World Cup.”
2. Feds Scramble To Avoid Fallout from Collapse of Three US Banks
Following the March 10 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, federal regulators in the U.S., and in other countries, have scrambled to avoid the crisis seeping through the financial system. On Sunday, the U.S. government said that all SVB depositors will “have access to all their money … no losses associated with the resolution of [the bank] will be borne by the taxpayer,” according to the New York Times.
Regulators said the same safeguards also hold true for Signature Bank, which on Saturday was shut down by New York State. On March 8, California-based bank Silvergate, “which made loans to cryptocurrency companies,” according to the New York Times, announced it has shut down and liquidated its assets. In the U.K., bank HSBC has stepped in to buy the U.K. division of SVB for 1 pound sterling ($1.20) following Sunday night talks between the banking sector, government and central bank, The Bank of England, the BBC reports.
Aparthotel operator Sonder Holdings issued a statement saying it had “approximately $2 million in an operating cash account and approximately $20 million in deposit accounts with SVB. … As well as a “$60 million line of credit facility with SVB issued in the ordinary course of business for the benefit of property owners and other counterparties, of which $13 million is currently utilized in the form of letters of credit.” It added it is actively monitoring the situation.
3. Concord Hospitality Sees ‘No Pulling Back’ on Travel
Executives at Raleigh, North Carolina-based Concord Hospitality say they are continuing to see strong hotel performance and development after closing the last financial year with $981 million in hotel revenue and with comparable hotels seeing a 41.6% increase in revenue per available room compared to 2021. They added food-and-beverage operations grew revenue 25% year over year to more than $125 million, according to Hotel News Now’s Bryan Wroten.
Nick Kellock, chief operating officer of the firm, which has 15 hotels under construction, said he is not seeing corporate demand return to pre-COVID-19 levels, but that “there is still a large amount leisure and mixed-purpose travel. Events are coming back, and people are dining out more. … That’s all doing great, well ahead of 2019 levels of performance now and has been since September, even late August, last year.”
4. Global Online Travel Booking To Grow by $943 Billion by 2026
The global online booking market is set to expand by $943.6 billion by the end of 2026 at a compound annual growth rate of 14.5%, according to information technology research and advisory firm Technavio. One of the thrusts of this development is “the introduction of low-cost smartphones [that] has increased the number of online users worldwide. This has increased the demand for a wide range of online services, including online travel booking.”
From the side of sellers, the big push is coming from the increased adoption of online payment platforms for hotels and travel. The biggest buyers’ market, accounting for 36% of the forecast growth, is the Asia-Pacific region, where “growth … is mainly driven by the increasing adoption of smartphones and the rapid penetration of the internet in China and India.”
5. Carlton Cannes Reopens in Time for MIPIM Conference
The 332-room Carlton Cannes, A Regent Hotel, has reopened following a major renovation and just in time for Tuesday's start of the four-day real-estate conference MIPIM 2023, according to a news release from its operator IHG Hotels & Resorts. Located on the seaside Boulevard de la Croisette and famous for its Belle Epoque architecture and twin domes, the hotel has been undergoing renovations for two years, work that included “750 craftspeople and artisans [who have] worked to breathe new life into the hotel.”
Held at Le Palais des Festivals et des Congrès de Cannes, half a mile along the coast from the Carlton Cannes, MIPIM will host more than 23,000 people, which BusinessImmo, a sister publication to Hotel News Now, said is a record attendance.