Marriott’s Q3 results: In the two years since Marriott International acquired Starwood, “we are in the home stretch on integrating the companies and are pleased with the results,” President and CEO Arne Sorenson said, according to a statement announcing the company’s Q3 2018 results. In the quarter, diluted earnings per share were up 7% year over year to US$1.38; adjusted diluted EPS totaled US$1.70, a 62% increase year over year. Comparable systemwide constant dollar RevPAR rose 1.9% worldwide – 5.4% outside North America and 0.6% in North America. Q3 reported net income totaled US$483 million, flat YOY; adjusted income for the period was US$598 million, a 51% increase YOY. EBITDA totaled $900 million in the quarter, a 12% increase YOY. For the year, Sorenson said the company expected its net room growth at 5% and 2019 room growth about a half-percentage-point higher.
It’s Amsterdam, again: The city was named most attractive by investors for the third year in a row, according to the 2018 European Hotel Investment Survey from Deloitte. The findings, based on responses from 122 senior hospitality figures from across the world, were revealed ahead of the 30th annual European Hotel Investment Conference taking place in London this week. Amsterdam continues to be seen as the most attractive hotel investment destination in Europe, with more than a third of respondents (34%) ranking the Dutch capital top. London (24%) has climbed back to second place from fourth in 2017, ahead of Paris (22%) and Madrid (19%). Dublin (18%) and Barcelona (16%), which featured in the top three last year, have slipped to fifth and sixth, respectively.
Other findings:
- Investors still expect top-line growth in the Regional UK hotel market Respondents were also asked about their investment appetite towards the UK regional hotel landscape. For the fifth year in a row, Edinburgh has been named the most attractive UK regional city for hotel investments in the next 12 months, according to 39% of respondents. Second-place sees Cambridge (30%) overtaking Manchester (28%). All three cities are also expected to see the highest growth in RevPAR (revenue per available room) in 2019.
- Economic backdrop fueling concerns around talent retention According to the research, 38% of respondents identified ‘lack of economic growth’ as the number one strategic risk facing the European hotel industry over the next five years. Terrorism, which was last year’s number one risk after a series of high-profile attacks across Europe in 2017, has slipped to second place (34%, down from 67%).
A Four Seasons sells in Texas: The Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas has been purchased by an affiliate of Manhattan-based Extell Development, records show. Since 2014, the 431-room luxury Irving golf course hotel, conference center and spa has been owned by a company set up by Blackstone Real Estate Advisors. Terms of the sale were not disclosed but four years ago, Blackstone paid an estimated US$150 million for the property. Since then, the hotel has had more than US$4 million in upgrades.
Trump lawsuit to proceed: A lawsuit accusing U.S. President Donald Trump of violating the constitution’s emoluments clause can proceed, a federal judge said Friday. Never before has an emoluments case gone to trial in the U.S. Federal District Judge Peter Messitte denied Trump’s request for a stay and ordered the two parties to begin the discovery process. The ruling means the plaintiffs have some power to obtain documents from the president and his business ventures. Trump notably has not released his tax returns and has maintained ownership of his businesses.
Oakland and Detroit settle in Marriott strike: Hotel workers with Unite Here have reached a settlement with Marriott International and have ratified contract agreements at the striking hotels in Oakland and Detroit. (Strikes continue for over 7,000 Marriott workers at 22 Marriott properties in San Jose, San Francisco, San Diego, Maui, Oahu, and Boston). The settlements for both cities include what the union said is progress on issues impacting hotel workers, including automation, wages and benefits, and working conditions. Both cities will share full details on their new contracts after the other six cities have reached agreements.
HEI managing for RLH: Denver-based RLH Corporation has engaged HEI Hotels and Resorts (Norwalk, Connecticut) to provide management services at the Hotel RL Baltimore. RLH Corporation will retain ownership of the hotel. “By engaging HEI to manage Hotel RL Baltimore, we can focus our resources on our core franchise business and on continuing to execute our asset light strategy,” said RLH Corporation Executive Vice President & COO Gary Sims. “Additionally, we are exploring the opportunity to move operations to a third-party manager for our few remaining owned and leased hotels that we are not expecting to sell in the short term.”
Iberostar in Rome: 2019 will see the opening of Iberostar Hotels & Resorts’ first hotel in the center of Rome, the 67-room Iberostar Fontana di Trevi. The company has set its sights on Italy to boost its city hotels segment with the 5-star boutique hotel.
Rosewood Venice: Rosewood Hotels & Resorts will manage the 50-room Rosewood Venice, scheduled to open in 2020 as the brand’s second property in Italy and eighth in Europe.
Strong biz travel makes for profit-per-room bounce: A bump in corporate travel at the end of the third quarter proved enough to boost GOPPAR and serve as a harbinger of continued strength in the hotel industry as it moves into the fourth quarter. Profit per room at hotels in the U.S. in September was more than US$20 above the GOPPAR recorded in August, according to the latest data tracking full-service hotels from HotStats. On a year-over-year basis, hotels recorded a 5.9% increase in profit per room, driven by growth in revenue across all departments, particularly food and beverage, up 7.6%, on a per-available-room basis. As a result of the contribution from non-rooms revenue, TRevPAR at hotels in the U.S. was recorded at US$252.30 this month, which was 3.4% above the same period in 2017.
Say hello to the U.S. again, UK: U.K. holidaymakers look likely to reverse a trend of declining interest in visiting the USA. In the period since U.S. President Donald Trump took office (February 2017 to September 2018), the number of international flight arrivals in the USA decreased by 1.5%, whereas the global average was an increase of 4.0%. Looking at a more recent period, the first three quarters of this year, international arrivals in the USA decreased by 1.0%; while the global average was an increase of 2.7%. However, now, according to research from ForwardKeys for the World Travel Market London, current bookings to Miami (+39.6%), Orlando (+14.3%) and New York (+2.9%) are well ahead of their 2017 levels.