HVS · 2 Aug

The ALIS Conference came and went this week, bringing Downtown L.A. hotels to life with optimism and hope that normal for the hotel industry is coming in the not-too-distant future. Here are some collective takeaways from our team that was in attendance.

HVS · 25 Jun

Local government authorities use property tax revenues to fund services including police and fire protection, hospitals, transportation, and schools for municipalities. For tax purposes, property is considered residential or nonresidential, with nonresidential property constituting commercial businesses, farms, ranches, and oil/gas operations. In 1982, the Gallagher Amendment was implemented in Colorado to hold the proportion of taxable value derived from residential property at approximately 45%.

HVS · 13 May

The pandemic’s negative effect on the hospitality industry, especially its ability to hire new associates, will be long felt even as we see signs of recovery. Many have left the industry for other opportunities considered more stable. The more leadership can recognize, motivate, and reward team members, the stronger the chances are of rebuilding and retaining staff for the long term. There are so many hidden and not-so hidden costs of high turnover that exploring all options to retain your valuable associates is more important than ever.

HVS · 12 May

Vaccine rollouts, an increase in local and regional non-air travel trends and higher transaction volumes are all positive news supporting an elevated degree of confidence for a market rebound. Multiple announcements made by large investment funds committing to substantial capital injections into the hospitality lending space will also provide a boost.

HVS · 15 Mar

In the aftermath of the ongoing pandemic, brand signings by keys in India witnessed a year-on-year decline of 42% in 2020. Signings were especially low in the first half of the year, due to the uncertain market conditions and challenges related to closing deals on virtual platforms because of the COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions.

HVS · 12 Mar

Hotel transactions value in India contracted by approximately 50% to reach INR24,611 million (approx. US$332 million) in 2020 compared to INR49,372 million (approx. US$690 million) in 2019, but was still higher than the previous peak of INR19,929 million achieved in 2015.Going into 2020, mergers & acquisitions (M&A) activity in the sector was expected to be stronger than that witnessed in 2019.

HVS · 10 Feb

The COVID-19 crisis consumed the United States for approximately three-quarters of the past year. In December 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.[1] The development and distribution of an effective COVID-19 vaccine, alongside other public health measures, should allow us to combat the health effects of the global pandemic. With certainty coalescing around the health solutions to the pandemic, attention must turn to economic solutions.

HVS · 8 Feb

After making several representations to the government, the Indian hospitality sector, one of the worst-hit by the pandemic, was expecting some game-changing announcements during the Budget 2021 speech which would help accelerate the sector's recovery.However, the first ever 'digital' budget of the country failed to provide any direct and immediate support to the sector.

HVS · 22 Jan

In Spring 2020, many hotels were forced to furlough most on-property Sales Managers because so much demand for hotels disappeared with the pandemic, requiring any remaining team members to be responsible for market segments which previously were not their responsibility. These remaining Sales Managers were forced to adapt to many other changes in a short time, including rescheduling/canceling events, in addition to learning how to research and sell to new/additional market segments while maintaining relationships with past and current clients. What does this mean for the future sales teams?

HVS · 11 Jan

A crisis is often needed to make drastic changes and the ongoing pandemic is one of the most challenging crises that the world has faced since the Second World War. The COVID-19 outbreak came in suddenly, swept across the world and changed us in an unprecedented way - not only our businesses but even the way we live.

HVS · 8 Jan

Like many people, I returned to my desk this week after the now-familiar five-second commute between the kitchen and my office at home and pondered what the New Year is likely to bring the UK hotel industry. By the time Boris Johnson started his TV broadcast at 8pm on Monday and Lockdown 3.0 had now commenced, any optimism we might have had was substantially depleted.

HVS · 21 Dec

In the past few months, several state governments have been proactively lending a helping hand to the tourism & hospitality sector in their respective states, providing various relief measures to help the sector stay afloat during these trying times. Last month, in a move to reboot the sector, the Maharashtra government conferred 'industry' status to the state's hospitality sector.

HVS · 7 Dec

All hotels strive to improve and reduce costs on an ongoing basis. During the normal course of operations, hotels try to achieve this by implementing various techniques, such as using alternate products, implementing process improvements, enhancing inventory management, and evaluating more efficient equipment, which allow them to save certain costs during the year. But the question here is whether these efficiencies are significant enough.

HVS · 16 Nov

COVID-19 has dramatically changed every aspect of life as we knew it, including the way we conduct our business. Though demand will be subdued for the near to medium term, we expect the industry to regain its 2019 glory in the next 2-3 years, making this an opportune time to invest in hotels.

HVS · 26 Oct

Asset-light operating models have become the main stay for growth of many of the major hotel companies in India, with Management Agreements being the preferred structure. The other major asset-light model - Franchising - though is yet to gain significant traction in the country. Approximately 14% of the total brand signings in 2019 were franchised properties as compared to 10% in 2018. On the other hand, Management Agreements accounted for 76% of the total brand signings in both 2019 and 2018. In contrast, hotel franchises are the most popular model in mature markets like the US, where almost 80% are franchised.

HVS · 23 Oct

While prior HVS annual lodging tax studies have looked back on tax rates and revenues across the United States, this ninth annual Lodging Tax Study also looks forward and assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This analysis of 25 major US markets illustrates the depth of the impact on the hospitality industry and projects a pattern of recovery over the next few years. HVS also provides historical data on tax rates and the collection and distribution of revenue from lodging taxes levied in all 50 States and the 150 largest US cities.

HVS · 21 Oct

Among all the many peculiarities of the hotel industry, the hotel management contract is likely the most unique. A binding contract between owners and operators, it has evolved over almost six decades. In fact, the first hotel management contract was signed for the Hong Kong Hilton, which opened in 1963.

HVS · 15 Oct

In 2019, the national lodging market reached new heights, with hotels reporting the highest occupancy and ADR levels ever recorded. Similarly, hotel development continued at a steady pace, with new hotels opening to a burgeoning market and new and exciting projects continuously being moved through the development pipeline. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, government restrictions, travel and group cancellations, and an overall fear of traveling have caused an unprecedented drop in travel and tourism demand in the country and around the world, which has resulted in substantially lower occupancies and average rates.

HVS · 14 Oct

Mixed-use development, usually a planned combination of hotels, retail, office or residential space, is a fairly widespread concept globally with several such iconic projects around the world. In the last decade or so, the concept has been gaining ground in India as well, though the combination (two or more elements) of retail, office, and residential spaces have been more popular. However, as investors look to maximize returns through efficient land usage and optimal utilization of FSI, hotels have also been added to the mix.

HVS · 6 Oct

In a market like India, where land most often than not is mis-appropriately valued resulting in exaggerated project costs and hotel transactions are limited in number, the only viable methodology that remains relevant especially in the current uncertain & volatile market scenario is that of Discounted Cash Flows (DCF). Moreover, the current pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on the hospitality sector, with hotels being temporarily closed and the sector witnessing all-time low performance metrics, by the virtue of which, assessing the value of a hotel on current income fails miserably.

HVS · 30 Sep

Hotels are complicated investments and therefore selecting an appropriate hotel agreement for a property requires exhaustive research and investigation by an investor. The choice of an operator as well as the hotel operating agreement has a significant impact on the cashflow and the potential value of the property. Hotels and the hospitality market are constantly evolving as a result of brands consolidating, owner profiles changing, technology disruption, changing traveler behavior as well as hotel investment trends altering.

HVS · 29 Sep

After realizing record-high RevPAR levels with over 100 consecutive months of growth, the lodging industry continued to strengthen through 2019, albeit at a significantly more tempered rate. Then, in the first quarter of 2020, COVID-19 struck. The unimaginable pandemic erased years of RevPAR gains virtually overnight, leaving owners and operators scrambling to strategize the forthcoming steps. While logistics pertaining to reopening hotels, new sanitation standards, and controlling variable operational expenses are on the forefront of hoteliers' minds, fixed expenses, particularly an asset's property tax burden, are also key factors that hotel owners should keep on the horizon.

HVS · 14 Sep

As we all gradually get back to business one of the pertinent questions that is being asked is whether hotels can still be considered a good investment vehicle going forward. We believe the answer to be a big 'yes'. It's true that the demand will be subdued for the near to medium term, but the industry is expected to regain its 2019 glory in the next 2-3 years, and this is perhaps an opportune time to invest in hotels. However, hotel owners need to re-evaluate their investment objectives and don the hat of an institutional investor now more than ever.

HVS · 31 Aug

As an industry there is a need to make hotels more viable. The pandemic has taught us to rethink in this direction and develop hotel assets that can drive higher ROI. It can only be done when we look at making changes from Design to Operations. Ideally, we should make changes to the industry status, compliance cost and interest cost, however, as these are policy matters, we cannot do much ourselves.

HVS · 24 Aug

The role of a professional Asset Manager has traditionally been underplayed in India, even though the expertise brought in by a quality Asset Manager can yield great results for Investors. This is already a proven fact in several mature markets where Hotel Investors extensively use their services. The role of the Asset Manager has become even more crucial in the current times of uncharted waters.How do professional Asset Managers add value to Hotel Investors? Asset Managers work with owners to maximize the asset value and potential by optimizing operational efficiencies to deliver better ROI.

HVS · 3 Aug

The Hotel Law Guide helps serve hotel real estate owners, developers and operators as a reference for experienced and well-known lawyers and attorneys with a track record in Asia Pacific region. Each law firm highlights their representative attorneys with the type of services offered and notable projects.