Read the latest hotel industry news from around the Americas region.

Hotel analysts and owners say the fall of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, the largest U.S. banking collapse since the Great Recession, will lead to a shift in funding sources, difficulty in obtaining hotel construction loans and a hurdle in recovery of the already challenging lending environment, reports Hotel News Now's Dana Miller.

Executives at the recent Hunter Hotel Investor Conference expressed that while the situation is worth monitoring, they weren't overly rattled.

“The biggest concern from my perspective is: Will a deal pencil today where maybe interest rates are a lot wider than they were a year ago at this time? … It’s harder to know if the deal is going to make sense given where rates have gone,” Lori Tirado, head of business development for Access Point Financial, a hospitality lending company based in Atlanta, said during a panel at the conference.

While the Latino population is the fastest-growing in the U.S. and have the fastest-growing number of new businesses, their presence is small in hotel ownership, HNN's Miller reports. Figures from The Latino Hotel and Entrepreneurship Investment Report state Latinos make up 19% of the country's population, yet comprise only 9% of hotel entrepreneurs.

Lynette Montoya, president and CEO of the Latino Hotel Association, which is dedicated to expanding the community of Latino and Hispanic hotel owners and operators, said while brands are making an effort to advance Latinos, there needs to be more of it.

"The support that we get is great, but I feel like there needs to be more support from the brands because they do want to see more Latino owners. There needs to be more engagement in really helping to make that happen, whether it be financially on the partnership side, offering events that we can organize people to go to so that they can understand each of the brands," she said. “Overarching, it's the education piece. Most of the time, when I’ve spoken to Latinos, they’ve indicated that there has been no knowledge that they could own a hotel. Latinos are always opening businesses of some kind, so why not hotels?”

Even with global recessionary conditions expected in the second half of this year, tourism recovery across Latin America for leisure and business travel persist, reports HNN's Stephanie Ricca from the recent SAHIC Latin America & The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Investment Forum.

Hotel occupancy across the region almost reached 2019 levels in 2022 and began 2023 strong, according to Patricia Boo, senior area director of Latin America for STR, CoStar’s hotel analytics firm. However, political and social situations did cause a lag in occupancy in Peru.

"Average daily rate has grown generally in Latin America, led by Mexico, Boo said. High ADR in Argentina has been driven by the country’s outsize inflation, which topped 100% in mid-March as a result of failed economic policies levied by the government in recent years," Ricca reports.

• Pebblebrook Hotel Trust completed the sale of the 157-room Hotel Colonnade Coral Gables, Autograph Collection for $63 million. The hotel real estate investment trust sold the hotel to an undisclosed third-party buyer.
• Hotel developer, management company and investor Raines purchased third-party hotel management company HP Hotels. The deal adds 27 hotels to Raines' management portfolio, which now stands at 49 hotels.
• Giri Hotels acquired the Anchorage by the Sea, a 249-room waterfront hotel in Ogunquit, Maine, for an undisclosed price.
• HEI Hotels and Resorts assumed management of the 354-room Marriott Jacksonville Downtown Hotel in Jacksonville, Florida. The hotel is owned by L+R Hotels.

• Marriott Irvine Spectrum appointed Che Sutton to general manager, Nelson Sanchez to executive chef and Charline Bianchi to director of room operations.

• JW Marriott Savannah Riverside District appointed Simon Pettigrew to managing director.
  
• The Indigo Road Hospitality Group appointed Zach Girgenti as director of outdoor experiences.
  
• Denver-based Evermore Partners and Ridgefield, Connecticut-based New Castle Hotels and Resorts purchased two Marriott International-branded hotels in Montana. In the portfolio are the105-room AC Hotel by Marriott and a 175-room Residence Inn by Marriott. Along with the deal, the Evermore Partners and New Castle Hotels and Resorts purchased The Mercantile, a collection of nearly 20,000 square feet of retail.
• Hyatt Hotels Corp. plans to expand its brand portfolio in Mexico with new luxury and all-inclusive hotels and resorts by 30% through 2025.
• Hilton opened the 225-room Hilton Monterrey in the business and financial district of Nuevo León, Mexico.

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