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1. Vail Acquires Swiss Crans-Montana Ski Resort for $136 Million
Broomfield, Colorado-based Vail Resorts has agreed to buy Swiss ski resort Crans-Montana Mountain Resort in a deal, subject to closing, worth 118.5 million Swiss francs ($136 million). In the Swiss canyon of Valais, the resort is two and a half hours from Vail’s other owned and operated European resort in Andermatt-Sedrun.
As part of the deal, Vail will acquire 84% of Remontées Mécaniques Crans-Montana Aminona SA, which controls and operates the resort’s lifts and supporting mountain operations, including four retail and rental locations; 80% of SportLife AG, which operates a ski school at the resort; and 100% of restaurants at or adjacent to the site. The resort is due to host the International Ski Federation’s Alpine World Championships in 2027.
2. World Tourism To End Year at 90% of Pre-Pandemic Levels
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s tourism barometer, by the time 2023 rolls to an end, world tourism will have reached 90% of pre-pandemic levels, with an estimated 975 million tourists having traveled internationally between January and September 2023. That is a 38% increase from last year.
The report added third-quarter global tourist arrivals are at 91% of pre-pandemic levels and in July, the best month since the beginning of the pandemic, the index hit 92%. Europe rebounded to the strongest level, reaching 94% of its pre-pandemic level, and Africa came in second, reaching 92%. Asia-Pacific is the laggard, at 62%. Spending is buoyant, too, at approximately $1.4 trillion in 2023, compared to $1.5 trillion spent in 2019.
3. Luxury Hotel Initiatives Rise in Caribbean
Caribbean and Latin America hotel supply is following demand, and that demand is for luxury, reports Hotel News Now’s Stephanie Ricca from the Caribbean Hotel Investment Conference & Operating Summit. Big hotel brands are seeking out new ways to expand their luxury footprints, dabbling in higher-end, all-inclusive resorts and ultra-luxury hotels in additional to traditional luxury resorts with and without branded residences.
Bojan Kumer, regional vice president of hotel development for the Caribbean and Latin America at Marriott International, said in the past five years, 40% of Marriott’s signings in the region were for luxury products. “We’ve seen not only the interest for typical European-plan luxury product but also interest in all-inclusive luxury and all-inclusive luxury that comes with branded residences as well,” he said.
4. Extended-Stay Hotels Outperform Rest of Industry
Atlanta-based business advisory The Highland Group reports extended-stay hotels in October outperformed traditional hotels, with “growth in supply, demand, average daily rate, revenue per available room and revenue exceeding those of the overall hotel industry.” Occupancy in the extended-stay segment declined year over year by 1%, compared to a 1.6% contraction across the U.S. hotel industry.
“The long-term correlation coefficient between the annual change in RevPAR for extended-stay hotels and the overall hotel industry is very high, and we expect that to continue during the near term,” said Mark Skinner, partner at The Highland Group.
5. US Inflation Continues to Settle
Inflation in the U.S. continues to decrease, with a key barometer of price increases — Personal Consumption Expenditures — showing “continued signs of fading in October … as officials try to gauge whether they need to take further action in order to fully stamp out rapid price increases,” the New York Times reports.
The barometer rose 3% through October, down from 3.4% in September, although that lower level is still higher than the 2% rate of inflation desired by the Federal Reserve. The New York Times also reports that U.S. consumers are spending less, with personal consumption increasing by only 0.2% in the period, “a slight slowdown from the previous month.”