NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Business at Delaware North's hotels and resorts near national and state parks across the U.S. is somewhat resilient to economic downturns, helping the company weather a slower travel environment.
Derek Zwickey, chief operating officer of Delaware North's parks and resorts division, said "everybody's starting to see a slowdown" in business, but signs of improvement have emerged.
"The interesting part about our business and being targeted in and around national parks is that we never see steep increases, and we never see steep decreases," Zwickey said in a video interview at the 2024 Hotel Data Conference. "It stays fairly steady along the way."
Delaware North, based in Buffalo, New York, is a privately held hospitality and entertainment company Its parks and resorts division owns and manages properties across the country. Among its other ventures, the company also operates the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Florida’s Space Coast for NASA.
Zwickey said tourists from across the globe are returning to the United States, and that's important because resort performance relies heavily on tourism in state and national parks.
"We're seeing a slow resurgence of international travel, mainly at the Grand Canyon, which depends a lot on our international business," he said. "Overall, we are having a good first half of the year."
Delaware North currently is upgrading its Squire Resort at the Grand Canyon. It bought the 322-key hotel, then known as the Best Western Premier Grand Canyon Squire Inn in Tusayan, Arizona, for $85 million, according to CoStar data.
"We've been going through renovating all of the rooms," Zwickey said. "We're three-quarters of the way there. The rest of it will be done in the spring of '25."
Delaware North activated all of the resort's public areas, re-created the pool and installed a pool bar, he said.
"We do tacos out there at night, and it's really great," Zwickey said. "The Squire Resort has all the amenities of a great property. They just need to be activated and make sure our guests know about them."
The company also recently upgraded 250 rooms at its Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite resort in Fish Camp, California, adjacent to Yosemite National Park.
"We took it down to the studs, brought it back. It really was well needed," he said. "On top of that, we renovated the lobby, reimagined the lobby, and the concierge and how they interact with each other."
Delaware North also upgraded the Ascent Spa at Tenaya Lodge and added new amenities, such as a climbing wall and pickleball court.