Funviralpark The good news is that it’s all pretty good news. From a global perspective, travel and tourism have recovered very well, with a few exceptions.
The US will continue to be a strong outbound market. But there will be plenty of domestic and regional travel for at least the next 12 months. Because this is how people have some control over their budgets. Airfare is really expensive.
Lindsey Uberus
For us, parts of Europe will be second only to the United States. I mean, look at Italy, Spain and Portugal!
South America looks interesting. It is a market that plans aggressive growth. We currently own about 11 hotels and aim to have 50 in the next two years. Due to the strength of the dollar compared to the home currency, I think it will be a great travel destination and the dollar will strengthen again.
Everyone has decided to move Africa to the top of their bucket list. It’s been going incredibly well, and will continue to be, barring a global event.
The Asia-Pacific region is lagging behind, but it’s about a year behind the rest of the world and will see incredible growth. Australia, historically a big driver of our global business, looks strong. Japan is off the charts. I hope they are prepared for what is about to happen at their destination.
Of course China is still [not open], at least for the next 12-18 months without real change. We’ve lost the hotel there, but the team has been preserved.
The only area where we continue to see pandemic-related impacts is business travel. The CFO still arranges company travel. You can see some changes. They put together their own team of employees.
Still, many of our hotels say they are moving away from traditional segmentation. They can’t really judge who comes for leisure and extends for business or who comes for business and extends for leisure.
It’s a gray area. More and more hotels are transforming their spaces to accommodate travelers who want to do business but don’t want to sit and work in their hotel rooms. So properties are taking out meeting spaces or public areas, building a kind of cool way to do a blended corporate-leisure trip. Yes, it has better WiFi and even a TV screen for Zoom calls. I’m curious how long this will last, but I have a feeling this could last for a long time, especially as businesses struggle to get people back into the office.
Another trend is their willingness to travel farther and stay longer, often with multiple generations of families. It is rare to find a hotel that has not built some sort of residential component to accommodate 3-4 bedrooms with kitchen access.
Luxury and ultraluxury work very well, but I don’t think hotels can keep pushing rates up like they used to. As long as the guest receives the service, the guest will pay, but the hotel must take great care to ensure that the service is provided. The labor crisis is a global problem.
Most of the time, medical protocols move to the back of the house. You’ll still see hand sanitizer, but I don’t think you’ll see plexiglass at the check-in desk anymore. [protocols] Stays in place for a very long time.
Earlier this month, it rebranded itself from Preferred Hotel Group to Preferred Travel Group, more clearly stating that it now has four hotel brands and two consulting divisions. I think most people don’t realize it. The hotel and sustainability consulting sector continues to grow. We want to position ourselves as a travel agency that truly caters to the independent. [hotel] market, a specific niche market. Nowadays people travel in different ways and for different purposes.
I’ve categorized the sustainability consultancy Beyond Green into three pillars: cultural heritage, community and what I call true sustainability: reuse and recycling. What people really want to focus on is cultural heritage and community work. Once you step onto the premises, everyone is hired locally and can talk about their local experience. They are celebrating destinations and, by the way, doing incredible things related to initiatives to save the planet. , while you’re there, let me show you what these facilities are really doing to address issues related to global warming. You will understand that great things are happening in real estate related to the technical aspects of climate and sustainability.
Across the industry, we see many new opportunities and partnerships. We have no plans to launch a new brand at this time, but I wouldn’t say never. We are always looking for opportunities to potentially acquire or partner with someone to add value to our existing portfolio.
