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THE U.S. IS expected to lift its requirement for pre-departure COVID testing by international travelers bound for the country. Travel industry organizations that have been lobbying for ending the test requirement welcomed the decision announced on Friday. Beginning Sunday, fully vaccinated travelers will no longer have to test negative before entering the U.S., according to media reports. After learning of the plan to lift the testing requirement, the U.S. Travel Association, which last month met with White House officials, along with Airlines for America, to make their case against the pre-departure testing said in a statement that the decision was expected to add 5.4 million visitors to U.S. and $9 billion in travel spending through remainder of 2022. "Today marks another huge step forward for the recovery of inbound air travel and the return of international travel to the U.S. The Biden administration is to be commended for this action, which will welcome back visitors from around the world and accelerate the recovery of the U.S. travel industry," said Roger Dow, USTA president and CEO. "International inbound travel is vitally important to businesses and workers across the country who have struggled to regain losses from this valuable sector. More than half of international travelers in a recent survey pointed to the pre-departure testing requirement as a major deterrent for inbound travel to the U.S."

INTERNATIONAL INBOUND TRAVEL is expected to slow down in the fall after surging over the summer, according to the latest U.S. Travel Association forecast. USTA also expects it may take until 2025 for the travel segment to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Inbound travel recovery picked up in summer and reached a pre-pandemic high of 35 percent below 2019 levels in July 2022, said U.S. Travel Association. It improved from a 41 percent decrease in May and declines of more than 50 percent earlier in 2022. The latest report by Aaron Szyf, economist, USTA, said that inbound travel recovery continued from Europe and Latin America in the past few months, which was 22 percent below 2019 levels in July. Meanwhile, Asian markets declined 66 percent in July, largely due to stagnation from China and a very slow return from Japan.

INTERNATIONAL TOURISM REACHED 98 percent of pre-pandemic levels in 2019, with approximately 1.1 billion tourists traveling internationally in the first nine months of 2024, according to the United Nations tourism agency. The Americas recovered 97 percent of pre-pandemic arrivals, down 3 percent from 2019. In its "World Tourism Barometer" report, the Madrid-based UN Tourism forecast a "full recovery" by year-end despite economic, geopolitical and climate challenges. International tourist arrivals grew due to strong post-pandemic demand in Europe, solid performance from major source markets and the ongoing recovery of destinations in Asia Pacific, the agency said. Tourist arrivals in the Middle East, Europe and Africa exceeded 2019 levels, with increases of 29 percent, 1 percent and 6 percent, respectively.

U.S. HOTEL REVPAR is expected to grow steadily in 2024, driven by improving group business, inbound international travel, and traditional transient business demand, according to CBRE. This follows a strong performance in 2023 that muted the new forecast in some areas. The research firm forecasted a 3 percent increase in RevPAR growth in 2024, with occupancy improving by 45 basis points and ADR increasing by 2.3 percent. It indicates ongoing recovery of the lodging industry, with RevPAR in 2024 expected to surpass 2019 levels by 13.2 percent, CBRE Hotels said in a statement. CBRE's baseline forecast expects 1.6 percent GDP growth and 2.5 percent average inflation in 2024. Given the strong correlation between GDP and RevPAR growth, the economy's strength will directly impact the lodging industry's performance, the statement said. "We expect RevPAR growth to be slower in the first quarter due to last year's strong performance, but to reach its peak in the third quarter driven by the influx of inbound international travelers during the busy summer season," said Rachael Rothman, CBRE's head of hotel research and data analytics. "Urban and airport locations should particularly benefit from group and inbound international travel, as well as the normalization of leisure travel."

THE U.S. REMAINS the world's top travel and tourism market, contributing a record $2.36 trillion to the economy last year, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. Despite a slow recovery in international spending, the U.S. holds nearly double the economic contribution of its closest competitor. The council's 2024 Economic Impact Trends Report found that travel and tourism remain vital to many economies, supporting millions of jobs worldwide. "As we look forward to a record-breaking 2024, it's clear that travel and tourism are not only back on track but also set to achieve unprecedented growth," said Julia Simpson, WTTC's president and CEO. "We will continue to prioritize sustainability and inclusivity, ensuring that this growth benefits everyone and protects our planet for future generations. The sector's resilience and potential for innovation continue to drive us forward."

THE LEISURE AND hospitality sector saw some job growth in December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' December employment report. Not enough, however, according to the U.S. Travel Association, meaning more federal aid is needed. The sector added 53,000 jobs during the month, according to the BLS data. The overall economy added 199,000 jobs. "Leisure and hospitality has added 2.6 million jobs in 2021, but employment in the industry is down by 1.2 million, or 7.2 percent, since February 2020," the report said. "Employment in food services and drinking places rose by 43,000 in December but is down by 653,000 since February 2020." However, the report indicates that the recovery is uneven, said Tori Emerson Barnes, USTA's executive vice president of public affairs and policy, in a statement. December's performance was the second-worst since January 2021, she said. "The small gains made are not enough to propel the sector toward a larger recovery, as more than 7 percent of all L&H jobs remain lost compared to just 2 percent for the rest of the U.S. economy," Barnes said. "As the spread of the omicron variant continues to impact travel, there remains a pressing need for Congress to provide additional federal relief and stabilizing policies that will enable the return of business travel, professional meetings and events, and international inbound travel."

THE U.S. TRAVEL Association is urging Congress to implement short-term priorities to stimulate leisure and hospitality sector as 61 percent or nearly two-thirds, of all jobs still lost due to the pandemic are in this segment. The revised job data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the past several months confirmed that 10 percent of leisure and hospitality jobs now remain lost. "While the overall jobs report may be good news for some, the revised BLS data now confirms an even bigger revelation," said Tori Emerson Barnes, USTA executive vice president of public affairs and policy, in a statement. "The uneven recovery of the travel sector is due in large part to the lack of inbound international travelers, and the deep reduction in business travel and professional meetings and events. There could not be a more pressing time to support this vital contributor to the U.S. economy and rebuild American jobs."

U.S. HOTEL PERFORMANCE is expected to rebound in the fourth quarter and continue into 2025 despite subdued summer demand and a sluggish third quarter, according to CBRE. RevPAR growth for 2024 is now projected at 0.5 percent, down from 1.2 percent in August, due to a 40 bps drop in expected occupancy. Occupancy is forecast to decline 30 bps year-over-year while ADR is projected to rise 0.7 percent, 40 bps below earlier forecasts, the report said. RevPAR growth is expected to rebound in the four quarter of 2024, driven by rate cuts, easing inflation and stock market gains. "U.S. hotels performance was softer-than-expected during the summer months, partly due to Americans traveling overseas in record numbers," said Rachael Rothman, CBRE's head of hotel research and data analytics. "At the same time, the slow recovery in inbound international travel has created an imbalance in U.S. leisure demand. Despite this, continued improvements in group and business travel served as relative bright spots in the third quarter."

U.S. REVPAR IS expected to grow steadily in 2025, supported by urban markets benefiting from improved group and business travel and inbound international recovery, according to a recent CBRE study. The firm expects a 2 percent increase, with occupancy up 23 bps and ADR rising 1.6 percent. RevPAR in 2025 is projected to be 16.6 percent above 2019 levels, reflecting the lodging industry's continued recovery, CBRE said in a statement. "The U.S. hotel market is poised for steady growth in 2025, primarily led by continued outperformance of the urban segment, which should experience RevPAR growth of 2.8 percent this year," said Rachael Rothman, CBRE's head of hotel research and data analytics. "The sector's resilience and the sustained demand for higher-priced hotels bode well for the upcoming year."

THE 2020 COVID-influenced lodging industry recession resulted in some noticeable changes to the way hotels provide F&B service. Social distancing regulations forced operators to be creative in the way they served food and beverages to guests. Rising wage rates and sharp increases in the cost of food and beverage products compelled hotel managers to find ways to control costs. The inability of hotels to attract employees to fill the positions eliminated during the recession required creative solutions to improve productivity and offer more with less. These factors resulted in the following hotel food and beverage trends during the subsequent recovery period: The increased offering of kiosks and grab-and-go venues The closing of traditional three-meal-a-day restaurants A reduction in the menus, number of seats, and hours of remaining F&B venues Reductions in in-room dining and mini-bar service The conversion of food and beverage space to other revenue generating purposes To learn how these recent changes in hotel food and beverage operations have impacted revenues and expenses, we have analyzed the operating statements of 2,500 U.S. full-service, resort, and convention hotels that participated in CBRE's annual Trends in the Hotel Industry in 2021 and 2022. In 2022, these 2,500 properties averaged 285 rooms in size, and achieved an occupancy of 64.7 percent, along with an ADR of $225.60. To provide more current information, we also relied on the monthly operating statements of 1,200 properties during the period January through June of 2023.

U.S. HOTEL DEMAND declined by 0.5 percent year over year in the third quarter of 2023, according to CBRE. Simultaneously, there was a matching 0.5 percent increase in supply. The combined effect of these factors led to a 1 percent decrease in occupancy. ADR increased by 0.6 percent during the quarter, marking the slowest improvement since the pandemic recovery began 10 quarters ago, the CBRE data revealed. RevPAR decreased by 0.3 percent, as a modest decline in occupancy was partially offset by the rise in ADR. Despite sustained consumer spending, hotel demand and pricing power in Q3 were hampered by competition from alternative lodging sources like short-term rentals and cruise lines, along with an uptick in outbound international travel. According to the report, hotel wage growth in September outpaced the national average of 4.3 percent, registering at 4.7 percent, but declined from 7 percent at year-end 2022. Average hourly hotel wages fell nearly $10 below the national average, suggesting ongoing pressure for wage increases.

CENDYN, A GLOBAL hospitality cloud technology company, recently acquired Knowland, a provider of data-as-a-service intelligence for meetings and events. The acquisition aims to enhance sales prospecting and boost bookings in the meetings, incentives, conferences and events sector, Cendyn said in a statement. Knowland's platform provides market intelligence from more than 7,500 U.S. hotels and select international markets. "To effectively sell group business, hoteliers need immediate access to data, and Knowland's event intelligence platform is the market leader in this area," said Jack Blaha, Cendyn's CEO. "Its sales intelligence complements our sales CRM, helping hoteliers find their target audience. Using our Proposals and Grouprev platforms, hoteliers can complete the booking process. It's a perfect fit with our commitment to helping hoteliers "Find, Book, and Grow" their business. With Haveli Investments' expertise in technology joining our expansion, we're poised for a bright future for Cendyn's customers."