Air travel testing in US?: The Biden administration is considering a rule that would require negative COVID-19 test results for domestic air travel, according to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said Monday that screening U.S. travelers for COVID-19 could be helpful. But she did not expand upon whether there are plans to test domestic travelers.
Recovery rates in Asia Pacific: By the end of 2023, international visitor arrivals into and across the Asia Pacific region could return to 96% of the volume of foreign arrivals received in 2019, at least under a mild scenario, according to a new report from the Pacific Asia Travel Association. The report also states that less fortuitous medium and severe scenarios, however, could see those proportions reach just 74% and 49% respectively, at that time. Of immediate concern, for all of the Asia Pacific destination sub-regions under each of the scenarios, 2021 is likely to be another difficult year for international travel movements. Any growth is likely to be extremely uneven, and for some sub-regions may be further below the levels of 2019 and even those of 2020.
Getaway announces funding: Getaway, an outdoor and wellness focused hospitality company that offers escapes to tiny cabins in nature located less than two hours outside of major cities across the United States, closed a US$41.7 million Series C funding round led by investment firm Certares, with additional support from existing investors. In 2020, Getaway saw a 150% increase in bookings year-over-year, and nearly 100% occupancy on its existing portfolio — traffic which the company attributes to a demand for socially distant destinations during COVID-19. The Series C funding will accelerate the development and opening of new Getaway locations, such as a third New York location, a second Boston location, and new locations in Chicago, Nashville and Seattle, among others. During the pandemic, the company opened three new Outposts near Austin and San Antonio, Texas, Houston, Texas, and Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina.
Aimbridge VP of development: Plano, Texas-based Aimbridge Hospitality has named Marco Roca, Jr. vice president of development. In this position, he will support the growth of the luxury and resorts vertical, focusing on identifying new resort opportunities in North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean as well as sourcing opportunities for Aimbridge’s lifestyle arm, Evolution Hospitality, in the Eastern United States. Roca brings extensive experience to the new role, most recently having held the position of co-founder and chief investment officer at Reveille Hospitality.
Roxborough Group acquires in Portland: The San Francisco-based Roxborough Group, in partnership with AWH Partners and West Point Partners, has acquired the 179-room Hilton Garden Inn Portland/Lake Oswego in Oregon. This marks the first hotel acquisition each company has closed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The partnership has additional plans to renovate the property over the next several years, including upgrades to the lobby and public spaces, as well as a new fitness center.
Hermitage partners with Jean-Georges: The Nashville, Tennessee-based Hermitage Hotel will partner with chef and restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who will oversee the direction of all culinary operations at the hotel. The centerpiece of the partnership will be a new restaurant and café at The Hermitage with a menu inspired by the seasonal ingredients and culinary traditions of the South. It will incorporate his signature plant-based offerings and oven-fired pizzas. Vongerichten will also oversee all food and beverage concepts for weddings, meetings and other high-profile events at The Hermitage. Construction is underway and the new venues will make their debut in the fall of 2021.
Developer crowd sources last piece of equity: The Buccini/Pollin Group has completed capitalization of the US$105 million Washington Marriott Capitol Hill/NoMa with US$6.25 million equity raise on CrowdStreet. There is also US$17.25 million sponsor and partner equity; a US$56.1 senior loan; and a US$25.5 mezzanine loan. With this last piece of the equity puzzle, construction is under way on a 13-story, 235-room flagship hotel just north of Union Station and Capitol Hill in NOMA. The hotel is part of the mixed-use project NoMa CNTR in the NOMA (North of Massachusetts Avenue) neighborhood. Fully, 145 individual investors on CrowdStreet provided equity for the project expected to open in Q4 2022. The hotel will be managed by PM Hotel Group, the hotel management affiliate of The Buccini/Pollin Group.
US hospitality job loss data: Almost four in 10 of all the U.S. jobs lost since February of last year are in the Leisure & Hospitality industry, according to analysis of the latest Department of Labor national jobs report — triple the number of the next-hardest-hit industry. The 49,000 jobs created by the U.S. economy in January were viewed by economists as a disappointment and a major sign of lingering pandemic-related stress in labor markets. But according to analysis created for the U.S. Travel Association by the research firm Tourism Economics, the real underlying story is the 61,000 jobs lost by the Leisure & Hospitality sector last month. The U.S. would have gained 110,000 jobs overall without the decline in Leisure & Hospitality jobs.
Shore Hotel’s testing sites: Shore Hotel, a luxury boutique hotel in Santa Monica, California, recently secured approval from the local government to provide drive-thru and walk-up Coronavirus testing to the general public as a direct response to the rise of COVID-19 cases throughout Los Angeles County. The decision to roll out this testing pilot is spurred by growing calls from community members and local businesses to mobilize additional sites to address the testing shortage.
Scottish hotel leader’s plea: The CEO of the Scottish Crieff Hydro Group has pleaded with the country’s first minister to let the sector reopen next month. Stephen Leckie, who is also chair of the Scottish Tourism Alliance, has said his business is losing over £1000 (US$1,372) every hour during lockdown and that he has had to borrow money from the bank to stay afloat, even while closed. Leckie, who said his hotels could reopen at just a few days’ notice, said he was confident the industry would survive, but said that may depend on visitors from outside the UK. International travel has proved controversial, with many blaming it for a resurgence in the virus back in the autumn.
Ascott unloads in Shanghai: Singapore-based Ascott Residence Trust has divested the 168-room Somerset Xu Hui Shanghai in China at S$215.6 million (US$162 million) to an unrelated third-party. The divestment is at 171% above the property’s book value and net proceeds of the divestment is approximately S$193.9 million (US$145 million). The divestment is part of Ascott’s ongoing portfolio reconstitution strategy to unlock strong underlying value of the property and redeploy proceeds to higher-yielding assets.
The Hospitality Innovation Hub: The NYU School of Professional Studies Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality has launched a new Hospitality Innovation Hub (“HI Hub”), which will foster entrepreneurship and creative solutions for the industries it serves. It has been funded through a generous gift of US$ 1 million made by Jeffery Yau, CEO of Puyi Optical and Europe Watch Company, based in Hong Kong. One of the main features of the HI Hub is its “Experiential Learning Lab,” a flexible classroom and event space that is equipped with instructional and video conferencing technologies. Students will be able to explore and use current industry technologies such as POS (Point Of Sale) systems, PMS (Property Management Systems), and Revenue Management solutions.