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1. Extended-stay demand picks up pace in November
November marked the sixth consecutive month of 3% or higher supply growth for extended-stay hotels and was one of the best months in 2024 for demand in that segment, according to business advisory The Highland Group, which said November’s “gain in demand was faster and an increasing occupancy trend is emerging.”
Average daily rate is also growing, and the month’s increases in ADR and revenue per available room were among the strongest in more than a year. Mark Skinner, partner at The Highland Group, said November’s performance for economy extended-stay hotels was especially good, with monthly RevPAR growth the highest since August 2022.
2. Looking back at hotel industry's eventful, noteworthy 2024
The year 2024 was full of events, developments and happenings that shaped notably the global hotel industry. Hotel News Now’s Sean McCracken writes the year had both more sober announcements such as company leadership changes but also news and analysis of the biggest, most profitable concert tour ever to occur, thanks to Taylor Swift.
In a month-by-month overview of the industry this past year, highlights include Host Hotels & Resorts' May announcement that it had agreed to acquire the Turtle Bay Resort in Kahuku, Hawaii, from Blackstone Real Estate for $725 million and Indian hotel firm Oyo Hotels & Rooms parent Oravel Stays announcing in September a $525 million deal to buy G6 Hospitality, which owns brands Motel 6 and Studio 6, also from Blackstone.
3. US hotels post positive metrics for week ending Dec. 21
The U.S. hotel industry saw across-the-board improvement in performance metrics for the week ending Dec. 21, according to data from CoStar. In year-over-year terms, with the calendar shift of the Hanukkah holiday helping performance, occupancy increased 11.4% to 48.9%, average daily rate increased 2.7% to $135.79 and revenue per available room increased 14.3% to $66.36.
Among the top 25 markets, Tampa reported the largest year-over-year increases in occupancy — up 37.9% to 71.5% — and RevPAR, which increased 63.8% to $110.51. New York City once again reported the highest ADR increase of 20.1% to $351.39.
4. Chinese activity shows slight service-sector performance increases
China in December managed to avoid contraction in its factory, industrial, manufacturing and service industries, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics. Its manufacturing purchasing managers index came in at 50.1, a decrease from the November level of 50.3, but still above the “50 mark, which separates activity expansion from contraction.” The newspaper said the level fell short of the 50.2 forecast by economists polled by the WSJ.
The country’s nonmanufacturing PMI, which covers both construction and service activity, including hotels, increased to 52.2 in December from 50.0 in November. The subindex that includes hotels increased to 52.0 from 50.1 in the same period.
5. Boeing under further stress, most recently from Jeju crash
Airline manufacturer Boeing saw its shares fall following the Dec. 29 crash of a Jeju Air plane in South Korea that saw the death of 179 people with two survivors. The South Korean government is ordering an inspection of all South Korean-based Boeing 737-800 airplanes, according to Reuters, BBC and other media outlets.
Uncertainty remains on the causes of the disaster. The BBC reports Jeju Air's CEO Kim Yi-bae stated no specific issues were found in pre-flight inspections the day of the crash, but there are ongoing investigations on what issues the plane's landing gear might have had.
On Dec. 28, the day before the crash, the BBC published an overview of Boeing’s 2024, which concluded that 2024 was a “miserable year” for the Seattle-based company.