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Borneo to Get a Club Med and a Sheraton

STR reported China hotel RevPAR for the week ended March 11. Hotel RevPAR in China was up 85% year over year for the week. STR said Sydney WorldPride 2023 drove the market’s hotel average daily rate and RevPAR above pre-pandemic levels while occupancy remained slightly below 2019. The director of the Macao Government Tourism Office told a tourism forum that Macau welcomed an average of around 57,000 visitor arrivals each day in February .

A Sad Sack of Lodging SPACs Struggling as Public Companies

In an amazing recovery from over 700 points down, the DJIA ended the day down only 280 points while Nasdaq rallied to end up 6. Vacasa’s stock price plunged well into penny stock category, joining Sonder, before recovering somewhat, ending the day down -25%. Braemar Hotels & Resorts and Ashford Hospitality Trust both issued press releases, clarifying that their cash holdings are safe . STR reported US lodging data for the week ended 3/11. US hotel RevPAR was up 11.1% year over year.

China Reopens to Tourists But Hurdles Remain

Oxford Economics said tourist arrivals into the Asia Pacific region are tipped to reach around 50% of pre-Covid levels in 2023. China will resume issuing visas to foreign tourists for the first time since the pandemic broke out more than three years ago. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has recently unveiled two new hotels in Australasia with the latest being TRYP by Wyndham Pulteney Street Adelaide .

Raines Buys HP Hotels, Hilton to Expand in France

Raines announced they acquired HP Hotels , a full-service, third party hotel management company. Raines said this will result in operational expansion throughout the Southeast and Southwestern U.S. The Courtyard by Marriott Long Beach Downtown announced the addition of two Topgolf Swing Suites at their 216-room hotel. Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa , in Atlantic City, New Jersey , is embarking on a $55 million redesign and rebranding of The Water Club, in time for the resort’s twentieth anniversary.

China's Not Yet Having a V-Shaped Travel Recovery

Reuters published an article on how the hoped for, fast out of the gate, revenge travel by the Chinese following the demise of Zero-Covid has not occurred. Instead of a stampede, it has been more like a fast walk . South Korea and Australia were left off the next list of 40 countries to which China will resume outbound group tours as of tomorrow . Macau authorities are easing measures for entry to mainland China for visitors coming from Hong Kong , aimed at further improving circulation between the SARs and the mainland

Lodging Stocks Whipsawed After Bank Seizures

In a day that was everything that was expected, the financial indexes and individual stocks were whipsawed. B.Riley lowered their price target on Ashford Hospitality Trust to $6.50 from $9. They maintained their Neutral rating. Jon Bortz , chairman of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust has been on a bit of an insider buying spree the past few weeks. He has purchased a total of 64,000 shares between 2/28 and 3/9 at prices ranging from $14.30 to $14.67.

Hilton's Asia-Pacific Ambition

H ilton’s Asia Pacific president, Alan Watts , told Nikkei Asia that they expect hotel guest numbers in China to return to their pre-pandemic levels by year-end . The Macau Daily Times said they are being told the recent spike in hotel room prices in Macau is driving international visitors away. SJM Holdings Ltd said they plan to launch the remainder of the hotel room inventory at its Grand Lisboa Palace on Cotai in Macau  within the next quarter.

Marriott Cleared to Acquire City Express Portfolio

If you are wondering about who in the sector has exposure to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank , Sonder Holdings confessed to having $2 million in an operating cash account and approximately $20 million in deposit accounts with SIVB. Marriott International, Inc. received approval from Mexico’s Federal Economic Competition Commission for the acquisition of the City Express brand portfolio from Hoteles City Express, S.A.B. de C.V. According to a new report from HVS , hotel operators need to learn to manage the entire building they operate and start thinking of performance in terms of the total revenue or profit per available square meter.

Biden's New Budget Triggers Equity Market Drops

Baird lowered their price target on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts to $86 from $88 while maintaining their Outperform rating. Barclays cut their rating on Hyatt Hotels to Equal Weight from Overweight. They cut their price target to $125 from $130. They upped Hilton to an Overweight rating from Equal Weight. Travel + Leisure Co . announced their upped their quarterly dividend per share to $0.45 per share from $0.40.

Thailand's Latest Hotel Subsidy

STR said China Hotel RevPAR , the week ending March 4, was up 67.2% year over year. The Bangkok Post reported that 112,876 room nights were reserved out of 560,000 available within six hours of the latest phase of Thailand's hotel subsidy program going live. Marriott International announced plans to introduce the Ritz-Carlton to Phuket, Thailand following the signing of an agreement with Asset World Corporation .

Disney's Star Wars Hotel Is No Blockbuster

Walt Disney World’s Star Wars hotel has seen demand cool so dramatically that the Florida theme park giant has been forced to reduce dates during the busy Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. Membership Collective Group reported strong 4Q results, a profitable quarter, today STR reported U.S. lodging data for the week ended March 4. Hotel RevPAR was up 12.1% year over year for the week.

Nepal's 15 New Hotels and Resorts

Mandarin Oriental Singapore is temporarily closing its doors to undergo a six-month transformation. The Marina Bay property will reopen in September 2023 Accor has entered into a strategic partnership with Ecotourism Australia to certify all Accor hotels, apartments and resorts across Australia and the Pacific. A dozen new star hotels have been added during the last year in Nepal . According to the Department of Tourism, 12 new star hotels and three new resorts have come into operation in the last 11 months