STR weekly results: STR‘s latest data through 5 June showed that U.S. weekly hotel performance remained relatively flat from the previous week, but still reached pandemic-era highs.
30 May through 5 June 2021:
- Occupancy: 61.9% (-14%)
- Average daily rate (ADR): US$123.49 (-6.7%)
- Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$76.44 (-19.7%)
Among the Top 25 Markets, Miami saw the largest increases over 2019: occupancy (+9% to 77.1%), ADR (+69.1% to US$257.24) and RevPAR (+84.2% to US$198.30).
Tampa (+1.6% to 74.2%) was the only other Top 25 Market to report an occupancy gain over 2019. Boston saw the steepest decline in occupancy when compared with 2019 (-45.2% to 47.7%).
Tampa reported the second-largest increases over 2019 in both ADR (+21.8% to US$148.13) and RevPAR (+23.7% to US$109.96).
The largest RevPAR deficits were in Boston (-69.0% to US$64.57) and San Francisco/San Mateo (-68.1% to US$70.28).
Palm Springs project flips brands: A stalled Andaz hotel project in downtown Palm Springs, California, is being restarted by owner The Hall Group and will now be branded as a lifestyle Thompson hotel. Both brands are part of the Hyatt Hotels Corp. portfolio. The owner said he wanted a more lively concept with a focus on F&B experiences. The property was one of four hotels that the City of Palm Springs took legal action against to put pressure on developers to find a solution. Construction will resume this year with the opening projected for December of 2022.
Hospitality, tourism confederation formed: Airbnb, Oyo, Yatra and EaseMyTrip have formed an industry body in India that seeks to represent the interests of small and independent hotel and homeowners. Dubbed the Confederation of Hospitality, Technology and Tourism Industry (CHATT), the coalition will promote domestic tourism, bridge the digital gap, and provide educational training to small hotel and homeowners and travel partners.
Booking.com tax evasion?: Italy’s tax police believe Booking.com evaded €153 million of value added tax (VAT) in connection with holiday rentals booked through its platform, according to Reuters sources. Genoa police said they “uncovered a massive tax evasion of more than €150 million in unpaid VAT from 2013 to 2019 by a multinational online travel agency based in the Netherlands,” without mentioning the company by name. Booking.com confirmed receipt of the audit report, and said it intends to discuss in full cooperation with the Italian tax authorities. The probe concerns VAT on payments between private individuals for rental properties advertised by Booking.com. As the Genoa investigation proceeds, Italy’s tax office will launch a separate procedure, at the end of which Booking.com will decide whether to agree to pay or to contest allegations.