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ACCORDING TO THE March 2022 edition of CBRE's Hotel Horizons national forecast report, the total revenue for a typical U.S. hotel is not expected to return to pre-COVID 2019 nominal dollars until 2023. Accordingly, hotel owners and operators continue to seek ways to control expenses, and that can include property taxes. One potential reduction opportunity is property taxes, according to an article from Robert Mandelbaum, director of research information services for CBRE Hotels Research, and Mark Whitney, managing director of CBRE's Property & Transaction Tax Services platform. Based on a sample of 3,400 hotels from CBRE's Trends in the Hotel Industry database, U.S. hotel property tax expenditures declined by 13 percent from 2020 to 2021. This decline put 2021 property taxes 9.9 percent below 2019 levels. Unfortunately, this compares unfavorably to the 41.3 percent decline in revenues and 57.4 percent falloff in profits during the same period. For this analysis, profits are defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or EBITDA. Relationship to Profits Compared with other forms of real estate, hotel financial performance is relatively volatile. Because of the lack of long-term leases, hotel revenues and profits will react almost instantaneously to changes in the economy. This was evident during 2020 when we observed a sudden 64.3 percent drop in revenues along with a 109.4 percent decline in EBITDA in reaction to the pandemic.

THE U.S. CONSTRUCTION pipeline reached a record level in the first quarter of 2024, according to Lodging Econometrics. The pipeline included 6,065 hotels with 702,990 rooms, showing a 9 percent year-over-year rise in hotels and a 7 percent increase in rooms compared to the previous year. Furthermore, each stage of the pipeline saw year-over-year growth in the first quarter. LE's Q1 2024 U.S. Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report showed 1,144 hotels under construction, totaling 141,336 rooms-a 9 percent rise in hotels and a 1 percent increase in rooms compared to the previous year. Hotels set to begin construction in the next 12 months total 2,259, comprising 260,968 rooms, reflecting a 10 percent increase in hotels and an 8 percent rise in rooms year over year, the report said. Both hotel and room counts in the early planning stage increased by 9 percent year over year, reaching record-high figures of 2,662 hotels and 300,686 rooms, respectively.

THE STATE OF the U.S. hotel industry is strong going into 2024, according to American Hotel & Lodging Association's 2024 State of the Hotel Industry report. Average hotel occupancy is expected to reach nearly 63.6 percent in 2024, a slight increase from the 62.9 percent in 2023 but below the 65.8 percent rate recorded in 2019. Nominal RevPAR is also anticipated to rise to $101.82 in 2024, up by 4 percent from 2023 and over 17 percent from 2019. AHLA projects hotels will pay employees a record sum of over $123 billion in wages, salaries, and compensation in 2024, surpassing $118 billion in 2023 and $102 billion in 2019. Hotels are expected to add approximately 45,000 employees this year, while the industry's workforce remains nearly 225,000 below the almost 2.37 million employed in 2019, the AHLA report said. The report, projecting persistent challenges for hoteliers in the face of nationwide labor shortages as they approach 2019 occupancy levels, draws on data and analysis from Oxford Economics. It was developed in collaboration with AHLA Premier Partners: STR, Avendra, Ecolab, Encore, JLL, Oracle, and Towne Park.

IN 2020 AND 2021, U.S. hotel operators did a praiseworthy job controlling expenses to offset the significant declines in revenue. Based on data from CBRE's Trends in the Hotel Industry survey of annual operating statements from thousands of properties across the U.S., not only have we seen a reduction in the variable expenses associated with the drop in business volume (i.e., occupied rooms, restaurant covers), but also in cuts among what were previously thought to be fixed expenses. During this time period, insurance costs were out of operators' control. Per the 11th edition of the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI), insurance expenditures are classified as a non-operating expense and reported on the summary operating statement below gross operating profits. The insurance expense line item includes property insurance for building, contents, and business income from all perils, as well as general liability and excess liability insurance. The insurance expense category does not include workers compensation insurance, which is allocated to the operated and undistributed departments. To analyze recent changes in hotel insurance costs, and the factors that influence those changes, we examined the operating statements of 3,156 U.S. hotels that reported insurance expenses for the Trends survey each year from 2015 through 2021 (estimated). The following paragraphs summarize the findings from our analysis.

NEARLY 500,000 HOTEL operations jobs lost during the pandemic will not returning to the industry before the end of the year, according to a report from the American Hotel & Lodging Association. In response, AHLA has launched the "Hotels are Hiring" ad campaign with the goal of filling more than 100,000 jobs in the industry. A surge in leisure travel has led to improved conditions for most U.S. hotels, but AHLA's economic analysis found the recovery is far from bringing the industry back to pre-pandemic levels. Urban markets in particular are lagging. Hotel occupancy is projected to drop 10 percentage points from 2019 levels, the report said, and room revenue is expected to drop $44 billion this year compared to 2019. State and local governments have lost more than $20 billion in unrealized tax revenues from hotels over the past two years. AHLA and AAHOA held the Virtual Action Summit on July 20 to 22 in which hoteliers from across the country met with members of Congress to ask for help.

U.S. HOTELS ADDED 700 jobs in May, highlighting persistent workforce shortages, with 191,500 vacancies since early 2020, according to the American Hotel & Lodging Association. However, a survey by AHLA of hoteliers in May found 76 percent of respondents are experiencing a staffing shortage and 13 percent reported they are severely understaffed, meaning the shortage is affecting their hotel's ability to operate. By comparison, in a January survey, 67 percent said they were experiencing a staffing shortage, and 72 percent said they were unable to fill open positions. Total hotel employment is now approximately 1.92 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is still 191,500 short of pre-pandemic levels in February 2020, highlighting the ongoing struggle to find workers.

U.S. HOTEL PERFORMANCE decreased slightly in the first week of February from the previous week, while year-over-year comparisons remained mixed, according to CoStar. Key metrics, including occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR, all declined in the first week of February compared to the previous week. Occupancy dipped slightly to 55.2 percent for the week ending Feb. 3, from the previous week's 56.2 percent, reflecting a 0.1 percent decrease year-over-year. ADR decreased to $147.99 from the prior week's $149.76, marking a 1.9 percent increase compared to the previous year. RevPAR declined to $81.69 from the prior week's $84.13, reflecting a 1.7 percent increase compared to the corresponding period in 2023. Among the top 25 markets, Seattle saw the largest year-over-year increases, with occupancy rising 19.3 percent to 60.1 percent and RevPAR increasing by 27.5 percent to $89.11.

U.S. HOTEL WEEKLY performance showed mixed results in the fourth week of May compared to the previous week but posted positive year-over-year comparisons, according to CoStar. Despite a slight uptick in occupancy, both ADR and RevPAR decreased week-on-week across all key metrics. Occupancy rose to 67.7 percent for the week ending May 25, up from 67.4 percent the prior week, reflecting a 1.6 percent year-over-year increase. ADR decreased to $160.67 from $163.11, yet still representing a 2.3 percent surge compared to last year. RevPAR stood at $108.73, a decline from the previous week's $109.93, but marking a 3.9 percent increase compared to the same period in 2023. Among the top 25 markets, Houston experienced the most significant year-over-year boosts in occupancy, soaring 20.9 percent to reach 74.1 percent, while RevPAR surged by 29.2 percent to $89.15. Las Vegas recorded the sole double-digit increase in ADR, climbing by 10.9 percent to $217.53.

U.S. HOTEL REVENUES and profitability saw an increase in 2023 compared to 2022, with improvements in group business across the top 25 markets and upper-scale chains, according to STR's 2023 P&L data. Overall, 14 of the top 25 markets reported double-digit increases in GOPPAR. "Total industry revenues and profits were well beyond 2022 levels as pricing power continued to outweigh the impact of softer leisure demand," said Claudia Alvarado Cruz, senior analytics manager at STR. "A lift in corporate demand made improvements especially notable across the upper-upscale brands and major markets. New York City was the shining example with 47 percent growth in GOPPAR." In 2023, GOPPAR reached $75.83, marking an 8.2 percent increase from 2022. TRevPAR stood at $211.49, indicating a 9.6 percent rise, while EBITDA PAR amounted to $53.05, up 7.6 percent from the prior year. Labor costs notably increased, reaching $71.56, reflecting a 13.2 percent rise.

Alex Cisneros is Red Roof's new senior vice president for revenue generation. Prior to joining Red Roof, he was vice president of revenue generation and distribution for Wyndham Destinations. Cisneros also worked in operations for New Jersey TRANSIT, Delta Services Group and AT&T where he consulted on demand planning, pricing analysis, operations research, customer experience, and consumer analytics. A native of Ecuador, Alex holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Rutgers University and a master's degree in management and hospitality from Fairleigh Dickinson University.