View from the Hilton San Diego Bayfront on the opening day of ALIS.
Over 2,000 hotel executives, lenders, investors and developers attended the Americas Lodging Investment Summit in San Diego last month to discuss the state of the industry. I covered it for Rich Siegel at Hospitality Upgrade; my complete article will be in the Spring issue.
In the meantime, the gist of the conference was:
Data-Driven Reality, Back to Basics.
High-level quotes from both owner and brand leaders were insightful:
“A muted recovery is the most likely outcome. Unemployment is at seven million jobs versus two million jobs in the last recession.” –Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., president, RLJ Development LLC
“There will be opportunities in our business, but none of us have a fix on this year. The big surprise was unprecedented group declines caused by the economy and political rhetoric.” -W. Edward Walter, president and CEO, Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.
“In the last two recessions, we were coming from 60% and 63% occupancy. We are coming out of this one at a low point of 55% occupancy. It will take two to four years to have pricing power again.” -Gary Mendell, CEO, HEI Hotels & Resorts
“This is a caterpillar economy and there are more shoes to drop. The political discourse in Washington stopped corporations from traveling. The government is in bad financial shape.” -Scott D. Berman, principal and industry leader Hospitality & Leisure, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
“When money is tight, the veto pen around the family table comes out. If an expenditure benefits only one member, it gets vetoed. But if travel is family oriented, it’s okay. The female is the decision maker in many families, and she is getting out the veto pen if travel is not close to home. It’s post-911 cocoon-like behavior.” -Mike Shannon, managing director, KSL Capital Partners
“Our backdrop is the general economic activity. We are focused on employment, housing prices and corporate business investments.” – Mark Hoplamazian, president and CEO, Hyatt Hotels Corporation
“We are seeing a single digit rebound in corporate travel. There is a sense of optimism in India, China and Brazil.” -Hubert Joyce, president and CEO, Carlson Hotels Worldwide
“Mobile information is both a huge opportunity and a huge threat. We were first with the phone app. Now there is a phone app that knows where you are and lists every hotel in the area. Nearly perfect information has never been good for the hotel industry.” –Stephen P. Joyce, president and CEO, Choice Hotels International.
“I believe 2010 will be the status quo, the new normal,” said Dave Johnson, president and CEO of Aimbridge Hospitality. “We are working very hard to drive top line revenue. We are making a lot of sales calls. Last year we froze travel, now it is essential to travel.”
“When I look back to 2001, 2003, my only regret is that we did not buy more,” said Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., president of RLJ Development, LLC. “Capitalism is a wonderful thing; it will come back.”
At Softscribe, we track the pulse of the global hotel industry through ongoing calls with editors, hotel operators, influencers and attending content-rich shows like ALIS. Our show coverage for March includes:
HTNG 2010 North American Members’ Meeting, March 1 – 3 in Orlando
EyeFor Travel Social Strategies 2010, March 24, 25 in San Francisco
What would you like us to look for?
