ATLANTA — Wyndham Hotels & Resorts President and CEO Geoff Ballotti believes strongly in the long-term durability of leisure and extended-stay travel.
In a video interview with Hotel News Now held during the Hunter Hotel Investment Conference, Ballotti called leisure travel demand in the U.S. “off the charts.”
“In our segments, in economy and midscale, [travel demand] is double digits ahead of 2019,” he said. “We do think that trend is going to continue and we’re going to see people traveling this summer in record numbers.”
Ballotti and his company are so bullish on the resilience of leisure and extended stay that Wyndham executives have launched two new brands in the past six months targeted specifically to those travelers.
In March, Wyndham launched a yet-unnamed economy extended-stay brand, dubbed Project Echo. At the time of the announcement, Ballotti said the company had 50 new-build contracts in place and should open the first hotel in 2023.
In October 2021, the global hotel franchisor announced its foray into the all-inclusive leisure space, debuting its upper-midscale Alltra brand in partnership with Playa Hotels & Resorts.
These growth opportunities for the company have been driven in part by “this pent-up leisure demand of consumers wanting to get out,” Ballotti said. “We have a very resilient group of owners and franchisees that are feeling very good about where we are today in the cycle.”
Current obstacles, like high domestic fuel prices and inflation, aren’t stopping these travelers either, he said.
“We still think average daily rate has a long room to run in this industry,” he said. “Yes, fuel prices are above $90 a barrel but they’ve been there before. We’re not yet seeing the impact to our … drive-to demand. The pent-up leisure demand is out there.”
For more from Hotel News Now's interview with Geoff Ballotti, watch the video above.