New year, new industry?
Maybe, and the upcoming Americas Lodging Investment Summit is a great way to find out.
Stephanie Ricca, Sean McCracken and I will represent the HNN news team at ALIS next week, holding interviews with executives, sitting through sessions and generally getting a feel for how everyone is feeling at the start of the year. Each subsequent conference we attend through the rest of 2025 is another check-in to see how the mood may shift.
What could set a higher mood:
- The year is starting out with a generally strong economy thanks to consumer spending.
- The hotel industry should benefit from more business-friendly laws and policies enacted by the new Congress and presidential administration.
- Interest in travel is still incredibly high.
- Hotel transactions are expected to take off this year.
- The labor environment has improved and wage increases have slowed in pace compared to recent years.
There's always a but, though.
What could be a drag:
- Proposed tariffs and loss of labor force from deportations could increase the cost for goods and employees.
- The Federal Reserve will likely slow its pace of interest rate cuts as it continues to get a handle on inflation.
- Generally higher insurance costs as highlighted by the Los Angeles-area wildfires and last year's hurricane season.
- Those aforementioned hotel transactions will likely be the result of owners having to sell because of debt maturities and overdue renovations.
- People do want to travel, but many at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum are definitely feeling a financial pinch.
Neither of these lists are extensive, of course, and you could argue certain nuances that may negate or lessen the effect of certain items.
For those of you attending ALIS next week, keep an eye out for Stephanie, Sean and me as we're around the conference. Let us know how you're feeling about the year ahead and what you're excited and/or worried about. That will help guide and shape our reporting, both for the conference itself and as we move through 2025.
You can reach me at bwroten@hotelnewsnow.com as well as on LinkedIn.
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hotel News Now or CoStar Group and its affiliated companies. Bloggers published on this site are given the freedom to express views that may be controversial, but our goal is to provoke thought and constructive discussion within our reader community. Please feel free to contact an editor with any questions or concern.