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1. UK's Travelodge Closes Acquisition of 66 Hotels
Travelodge, a United Kingdom-based economy hotel firm, closed on its acquisition of 66 hotels from LXi REIT for £210 million ($266 million), HNN’s Terence Baker reports. The company has a portfolio of about 600 hotels, making it the second-largest U.K.-based hotel firm.
The hotel portfolio will revert to Travelodge PropCo Group in a combination of freehold and long-leasehold agreements.
2. Hotel Parking Fees Go Up
Hotel parking revenue on a per-room basis has increased 26% from 2019 to 2023, according to a CBRE survey, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Hotels are struggling with shrinking margins. They have fewer levers than airlines,” said Steve Carvell, professor of finance at Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business. He said inflation and higher property taxes are factors driving parking fees up.
Some hotels are even charging higher prices for larger cars, the newspaper reports. Some hotel brands will disclose the cost of parking during the booking process, but online travel agencies “rarely reveal parking rates at all," the news outlet reports.
3. Group Demand Sparks Park Hotels’ Performance
Park Hotels & Resorts is off to a strong start in 2024, due in part to sizable increases in group demand over the first two months of the year, HNN’s Sean McCracken reports. Park Chairman and CEO Thomas Baltimore Jr. said the segment’s booking pace is up 29% in January and 26% in February.
“It’s broad-based,” Baltimore said. “Chicago was up 38%. Denver was up 34%. In San Jose, our business out there close to Apple and others is up 35%. New Orleans is up 52%. New York is up 31%.”
Baltimore said citywide calendars in the real estate investment trust’s core markets are looking strong for the year, which benefits the company’s strategy of building a strong base of group business first and then bringing in transient business second.
4. Eurozone Inflation Down in February
Thanks to inflation dipping in major countries, including Germany, France and Spain, eurozone inflation on the whole is expected to be down for the month of February, inching closer to the European Central Bank’s goal of 2%, Reuters reports. Eurozone inflation is projected to be at 2.5% for February, a decrease from 2.8% in January.
Despite the positive momentum for inflation, areas such as services and wage growth remain a concern, and some ECB policymakers may “argue that volatile items are dragging down overall inflation,” the news outlet reports.
“Underneath the favorable headline inflation rate, there are still enough price pressures to worry about — which should deter the ECB from cutting rates too early,” said Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro research and chief eurozone economist for ING.
5. Travelers Seek Remote Destinations
According to data from an Airbnb survey, travelers are looking for more remote destinations, away from popular hotspots. About one in five Airbnb travelers, or 22%, say they choose the vacation rental company because they seek a local experience, and 64% of respondents said an Airbnb lodging brought them closer to local culture than a hotel would have. From 2021 to 2023, there was a 72% increase in people booking private rooms.
“Airbnb data highlights how there is a trend toward holiday experiences that more closely resemble what life as a local is like — indicating a move towards more authentic travel this year,” the company reports.