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1. Hotel Guest Satisfaction Down as Rates Move Up
An increase in travel demand and hotel room rates have not corresponded with an uptick in North American guest satisfaction with hotels, according to the J.D. Power 2022 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index. The study showed an eight-point decline (on a 1,000-point scale) from the same study in 2021.
Andrea Stokes, J.D. Power’s hospitality practice lead, said “during the fielding period of the study — June 2021 through May 2022 — the average daily rate for branded hotels has risen 34.8%. Many hotel owners and operators are using this post-pandemic surge in travel to get back on a steady financial footing, yet they held back on investing in upgrades and improvements during the pandemic.”
2. Dollar Gains Parity With Euro For First Time in 20 Years
Citing the continuing Russian invasion of Ukraine and concerns of a possible recession, the Wall Street Journal reported that on July 13 the U.S. dollar gained parity against the euro for the first time in two decades.
The newspaper reports each euro, which is used in 19 European countries, started 2022 worth $1.13, but that its peak against the dollar, when it was worth approximately $1.60, was in 2008. Analysts believe “the sinking value of the euro reflects growing risk aversion on the part of investors, who are pouring into dollars, considered a ‘safe haven’ asset compared with other currencies, amid concerns about inflation, the war in Ukraine and recession fears in numerous countries,” the Journal reports.
3. NewcrestImage Acquires 4 LaQuinta Properties
Grapevine, Texas-based NewcrestImage has acquired four LaQuinta hotels with a total of 696 rooms from a joint venture vehicle of real estate investment trust Highgate and private-equity firm Cerberus Capital.
The deal closed today on one of the hotels, LaQuinta Inn & Suites Irving DFW North; while the other three — LaQuinta Inn & Suites Anaheim, LaQuinta Inn Phoenix North and LaQuinta Inn & Suites LAX — are expected to close next month.
4. Weekly Hotel Occupancy Declines in US, Canada
U.S. hotel industry occupancy and revenue per available room lost ground in comparisons to pre-pandemic 2019 performance in the week ending July 9, according to data from STR, CoStar’s hospitality analytics firm. Compared to the same week in 2019, occupancy was down 14.5% to 63.3%, while RevPAR fell 1.1% to $97.37. ADR increased compared 2019 by a healthy 15.7% to $153.71. Among the top 25 markets, Virginia Beach posted the highest RevPAR increase compared to 2019, up 22.2% to $129.05, while the largest decline in that metric was San Francisco/San Mateo with a 45.4% decline to $108.63.
In Canada for the same period, only occupancy declined, down 5.7% from the same week in 2019 to 72.1%, while ADR increased by 10.7% to 203.82 Canadian dollars ($156.81) and RevPAR by 4.4% to 146.89 Canadian dollars. Of its major markets, Montreal recorded the highest increases in ADR, up 27.2% to 243.03 Canadian dollars, and RevPAR, up 20.1% to 188.65 Canadian dollars.
5. Emirates Brushes Aside Heathrow Plea to Stop Selling Tickets
Airline Emirates, based in Dubai, announced it will not stop selling flights to and from London Heathrow Airport, as the airport asked earlier this week, stating in a news release that the airport’s demands are “entirely unreasonable and unacceptable, and we reject these demands.”
The airline’s officials said it is “highly regrettable” that the airport only gave it and other airlines 36 hours to fulfill the request and “dictated the specific flights on which [it] should throw out paying passengers, [and] also threatened legal action for non-compliance.” Emirates added the “bottom line is, the LHR management team are cavalier about travelers and their airline customers.”