NEWS
Following 2011’s surge, U.S. hotel sales expected to plunge
By Danny King
U.S. hotel sales are likely to plunge in 2012
after real estate investment trusts, looking
to take advantage of a rebound in travel,
went on a buying binge this year, Jones
Lang LaSalle Hotels predicted in a panel
discussion at an Urban Land Institute conference in Los Angeles last week.
With two property
portfolios and 18 individual properties
each selling for more
than $100 million
this year, U.S. hotel
valuations have been
driven up, possibly
ending a biuyer’s
market. .
“There’s going to
be a slowdown,” predicted panelist and
LaSalle Hotel Properties CEO Michael Barnello.
During the first half of the year, public
companies and institutional investors were
encouraged by a combination of low interest rates and a steady increase in travel
spending over the past couple of years.
Additionally, the recession and dearth
of capital brought hotel construction to
a near standstill, giving public companies
a chance to increase rates of return by acquiring hotels.
“A lot of those deals [in larger U.S. mar-kets] have closed, and now, a lot of public
companies are on hold,” Barnello said.
In the U.S., hotel real estate transaction
volume peaked at more than $45 billion
in 2007 before plunging to $2 billion during the recession year of 2009. Last year, it
rebounded to about $12 billion and is expected to hit about $16 billion in 2011.
Matthew Sparks
Sr. Vice President,
Luxury Lodging
Hilton Worldwide
During the first half of the year alone,
the volume of hotel transactions surged
170% from a year earlier.
In addition, almost half of the investment-
grade hotel properties that changed hands
this year were acquired by real estate invest-
ment trusts, while owner-operators account-
ed for almost 40% of those properties’ sellers,
according to Jones Lang LaSalle.
TRAVEL AGENTS
LOVE
TW’s Weissmann
earns Min honor
HASSLE-FREE
Arnie Weissmann, Travel Weekly’s editor in
chief, last week was named to Min’s Editorial and Design Awards Hall of Fame.
Min, a trade publication that covers the
consumer and trade magazine industry,
cited Weissmann for his many innovations
and successes spanning a 25-year career in
travel journalism.
“Arnie has been involved in virtually every aspect of travel journalism, publishing
and media for the past 25 years,” the judges
wrote in announcing the award.
“His writing has won more than 40
national awards. He created the indus-
try’s first destination information service
(Weissmann Reports), authored a best-sell-
ing textbook and has served as publisher of
critical hotel and destination guides for the
travel industry. “
Weissmann Reports is now owned and
published by Northstar Travel Media, the
publisher of Travel Weekly.
In addition to serving as Travel Weekly’s
editor in chief, Weissmann is also a Northstar vice president and editorial director.
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OCTOBER
31, 2011
