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1. China's Evergrande Manages To 'Head Off Default'
China-based property developer China Evergrande Group has managed again to "head off default," the New York Times writes, as it made interest payments on at least two of its bonds on the grace period's expiration date of Wednesday.
The company owed investors nearly $150 million on three bonds. If Evergrande missed the payments, it would have caused a default that could ripple through China's economy, potentially hurting banks, property developers and home buyers, the newspaper writes.
“Given the size of China’s economy and financial system as well as its extensive trade linkages with the rest of the world, financial stresses in China could strain global financial markets through a deterioration of risk sentiment, pose risks to global economic growth, and affect the United States,” the Federal Reserve said in its twice-yearly update on the American financial system.
2. US Consumer Price Index Rises in October
The U.S. consumer price increased in October at its fastest annual pace since 1990, Bloomberg reports, at 6.2% year over year.
Data from the U.S. Department of Labor released on Wednesday also shows the consumer price index rose 0.9% in October from September, which is the largest gain in four months.
"The pickup suggests higher inflation will be longer-lasting than previously thought, putting pressure on Federal Reserve officials to end near-zero interest rates sooner than expected and potentially quicken the pace of the bond-buying taper announced last week," the news outlet writes.
The Associated Press writes that "millions of households that are planning year-end travel, Thanksgiving dinners and holiday gift-giving will be forced to pay much more this year."
3. Hotel Recovery Timeline Propelled by Strong Demand, Rate Growth
Hoteliers' optimism is being renewed for a quicker rebound as U.S. hotel demand and rate growth are strengthening, writes HNN's Bryan Wroten.
Speaking during the "Statistically Speaking" session of the NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, Amanda Hite, president of STR, CoStar’s hospitality analytics firm, said leisure demand continues to drive most of the industry's recovery but as that slows as part of a seasonal pattern, group and business travel are expected to increase in the new year.
STR moved its projection for full recovery of U.S. hotel industry revenue per available room up to 2023. On a real basis that factors in inflation, average daily rate and RevPAR are not expected to reach 2019 levels until 2025.
4. McKibbon Hospitality To Train Hospitality Students
Tampa, Florida-based hotel management company McKibbon Hospitality has formed a partnership with the University of South Florida to help train hospitality students.
USF's Muma College of Business and McKibbon will create a teaching lab for the college's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management students to get hands-on experience at some of the hotels in McKibbon's portfolio.
“In addition to providing unique training and development in preparation for their future careers,” McKibbon Chairman John McKibbon said. “We look forward to the new perspectives and fresh ideas that students will share with our hotel leadership teams, strengthening not only our operations, but the industry as a whole.”
5. US Hotel Performance Improves From Previous Week
Data from STR shows U.S. hotel performance increased slightly for the week ending Nov. 6 from the previous week.
Occupancy was 59.8%, down 13% from the comparable week in 2019. Average daily rate dropped 3.2% to $128.14, and revenue per available room fell 15.8% to $76.61.
"While none of the top 25 markets recorded an occupancy increase over 2019, Norfolk/Virginia Beach came closest to its 2019 comparable [-5.2% to 59.9%]," the release states.