Subject: Scholarship assignment Candidate: Zivojin Milivojevic/SLMC-CAIRNS
The upcoming year is projected to be a better and brighter one for the hospitality industry, but what are the new factors driving the market in 2012?The landscape is evolving quickly as new technology demands that hotels become more social and engaging in their marketing efforts, travelers are looking for the best value propositions, and consumer demand is pushing for hotels to make concerted effort 0n property upgrades and improvements.
Hoteliers will invest in reinvigorating properties to take Advantage of the market.
After years of delaying capital expenditures, hotel companies are betting that now is the best opportunity to renovate their properties. In 2012, we’ll see even more hotels renovating lobbies, restaurants, bars and fitness centers, as well as replacing beds, TVs, and more. Hotel sales, an absolute outcome of an improved market, will spur even more renovations since sale contracts always contain a provision requiring the new owner to upgrade the property.
There will be little to no new development dollars on the debt or equity side
This is good news for most, but bad news for the developers who genuinely have enviable sites in great markets. Despite that, optimism reigns. A great deal can, and will, get done. We’ve seen it. In fact, we’re working on one ourselves
Online booking will continue to (modestly) grow.
The number of U.S. travelers booking and researching online is still growing. More than 114 million people will research travel online this year, while 94 million will actually book reservations. While more than 50 percent of travel bookings are made on the Internet, the online travel market has matured and I expect modest growth and stabilization.
There will be more mobile bookings and research.
More and more travelers will be turning to their mobile devices to not only research lodging and travel options, but