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Hoteliers across the globe are repurposing hotel properties to emerge out of the crisis. This article discusses a few such instances.

Towards the end of first quarter of 2021, the Canadian Hotel industry has begun to see slight improvement in demand; Western Canada led the strongest demand improvement over 2020 while the Atlantic bubble continues to deliver a devastating impact to the market.

As we observe World Autism Awareness Day, we want to highlight what our industry can do to help support individuals with autism. To better understand the diversity challenges, growing diversity programs, and opportunities to be more inclusive within the hospitality industry, we interviewed the founders of Autism Double-Checked, an organization that provides autism-specific training to hotel staff to create more autism-friendly travel experiences.

Declining oil and gas prices since 2014 have largely resulted in an economic retrogression in Alaska. Aside from the oil and gas industry, the tourism industry is one of the largest private-sector groups of employers in the state and accounts for one of every eight jobs. Therefore, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been detrimental to the local economy. While the widespread availability of a vaccine has ignited hope, tourism recovery faces some obstacles in 2021.

2020: A year like no other in the Canadian Hotel Industry, a year to capitalize on fine tuning operations to be more efficient for when demand returns in 2021.

The Downtown Buffalo lodging market is almost unrecognizable from where it was just a decade ago. This article reviews how the market has changed, discusses the impact of the pandemic and related economic recession, and looks to what is next for the Nickel City.

The HVS Guide to Canadian Hotel Management Contracts presents the results of an extensive review of hotel management agreements conducted across Canada, in addition to offering an in-depth understanding of the key terms and clauses of such agreements. All the management contracts analyzed for this survey were in place prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. At this stage, given the disruption to the industry and the unprecedented levels of distress, current events may have a longer-term impact on the key terms of management contracts and owner-operator relationships, most importantly on the concept of “force majeure.”

In Canada, 70% of hotels, representing roughly half of all guestroom inventory, are currently independent. However, most of the new hotels now being developed are associated with a brand. Consequently, the percentage of the supply that is branded is growing. The emergence of soft brands as an option for both established independent hotels and new developments is also contributing to the growth in branded supply. Given the number of first-time hotel developers that have entered the Canadian hotel industry, the need for education on the highly complex terms of management contracts and assistance in the negotiation process is greater than ever.

Hotel management contracts involve either brand management, in which the franchise company provides both the brand and management services, or third-party hotel management, whereby a hotel management company provides just management services for independent or franchised hotels. For full-service, upper-upscale, and luxury properties, international brands provide management services and forgo the royalty portion of their franchise fees in favour of a base management fee and an incentive management fee. Recently, brands have also begun offering management services in the limited- and select-service upscale hotel tier because there is a dearth of third-party hotel management companies in Canada.

Third-party management companies offer their services for a predetermined time period in exchange for a base management fee and an incentive fee. Currently, there are only a handful of third-party management companies in Canada, many with their roots in the United States. Given the recent growth in hotel development, often involving first-time developers, successful hotel owners in Canada are offering their local expertise through third-party management services in an effort to also fill this void.

Owners are becoming better educated and are hiring hotel consultants, such as HVS, as a way to gain greater power in the management-contract-negotiation process and ensure that they are receiving customized, fair, and equitable hotel management terms based on the merits of the specific development.

The 2020 HVS Guide to Canadian Hotel Management Contracts by Monique Rosszell and Anastasia Ivanova is intended as a reference document for the key terms, clauses, and trends in management contracts found across the country. We hope this guide can serve the industry as a reference to make better decisions and building more balanced relationships between owners and operators.

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The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting restrictions on domestic and international travel, economic activity, and individual movement are having an unprecedented impact on the lodging and tourism industry in Latin America. While government authorities across the region work to manage restrictions and phased reopening plans, uncertainty prevails over the duration of the global pandemic.

Each year, HVS reviews and analyzes the Canadian hotel lending environment following a comprehensive survey. With the unprecedented change that 2020 has brought, this year’s survey looks to gain clarity on the current lending environment and the overall health of the hotel finance sector across the nation.

Nevada began its emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown on May 9, 2020, after Nevada’s Governor Steve Sisolak authorized certain businesses, including restaurants and retail establishments, to reopen with limitations. Nevada’s casinos were allowed to reopen on June 4, 2020, with restrictions. This article provides an update of the status of the Las Vegas market since Nevada’s casinos were allowed to reopen.