- It is necessary to register to view the webinar. The presentation itself commences at 4 minutes and lasts for 40 minutes ahead of a 10 minute Q&A session. Key points contained within the slides include:
- It is assumed that during the coming months restrictions on travel will continue to ease, and potentially at a faster pace than many expect
- Looking back evidence is presented to suggest that ‘drive to’ destinations performed far more strongly than ‘fly to’ destinations during 2021
- For regional areas, such as Devon and Cornwall, business on the books for the coming year is ahead of where it was at this time in 2021
- Q1 of the current year will be impacted by subdued travel brought about by the emergence of the Omicron variant
- Both hotel ADR and the cost of flights is expected to increase in the year ahead, but STR suggest that consumers will dip into savings accumulated during the pandemic in order to indulge in travel
- On business tourism it is questioned whether habits have fundamentally changed, with the suggestion that more face-to-face and event activity will take place than is currently expected – with event related travel in the USA back to around two-thirds of ‘normal’
- While inflationary pressures are expected to prove a challenge for hotel sector profitability it is argued that increased ADR will address these issues
- Labour shortages are noted as a risk if customer service standards deteriorate due to high vacancy rates
Link to STR webinar on European hotel performance Feb 2022
