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1. Hilton Reports Second Quarter Earnings
Hilton made "significant progress toward recovery" in the second quarter of 2021, CEO Chris Nassetta said on an earnings call with analysts Thursday.
HNN's Stephanie Ricca reports that the company's performance continues to be driven by leisure demand around the world. It's most significant in the United States, where average daily rates for leisure bookings were “90% of prior peak” in the second quarter of this year, and exceeded 2019 average daily rate in July.
Systemwide revenue per available room in the quarter increased 233.8% from the same period in 2020 to 73%, according to the company's earnings release. Occupancy increased 36.1% over the same quarter of 2020 and ADR increased 28%.
2. Executives Hopeful for Rebound of Business Travel
Hotel executives at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles this week discussed how they are addressing concerns over demand, international travel and labor, HNN's Bryan Wroten reports.
Heather McCrory, CEO of North and Central America at Accor, said business travel will begin to rebound as more people return to offices this fall, but it will be a slow process. She added that people are "Zoomed out" and want to get back to in-person interactions.
“I really do see it coming back this fall, and it will take a couple of years to get back to normal,” she said.
3. Some Mexico Destinations Require Proof of Vaccination
Popular travel destinations such as Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula are requiring proof of vaccination from travelers amid a rise in COVID-19 infections, Forbes reports.
Mexico currently is reporting the highest number of coronavirus cases since January with nearly 14,000 new cases being reported on average each day.
In response to rising cases, some resort destinations in the country last week started requiring travelers to show proof of vaccination or a negative test result when going into hotels, restaurants and bars.
4. US Travel Association Urges Industry To Follow Public Health Guidance
In reaction to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's updated COVID-19 guidance around the Delta variant, which advises a return to mask-wearing in parts of the country, U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow said the industry needs to continue to follow public health guidance to avoid "a backslide in the nascent recovery of travel, particularly as business travel slowly begins to rebuild," he said in a statement.
Dow said following the guidelines will help Americans "safely continue to return to our professional lives, including in-person meetings and business travel."
"The updated CDC guidance should not hamper the progress made by our country in recent months as we have begun to travel and gather in person again," he said.
5. Household Spending Rose 1% in June
Household spending rose 1% in June in the U.S. and income also increased slightly, "but a current upswing in COVID-19 cases related to the Delta variant is injecting uncertainty into the economic outlook," The Wall Street Journal reports.
More Americans have been spending money for activities since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, which has had a positive effect on industries such as travel and restaurants. The concern is that the Delta variant and updated CDC guidance could hamper economic growth.
Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at Stifel Financial, told the news outlet that “consumers have a lot of pent-up demand and a lot of pent-up wealth that they’re very willing to get rid of in the marketplace by consuming goods and services."
She added that's expected to continue to be a positive trend, but the rise in cases could "cloud the long-term outlook," the newspaper writes.
Editor's Note: Chris Nassetta serves on CoStar Group's board of directors.