STATS

La Quinta by Wyndham’s “La Quinta Means Business” survey tapped into the mindset of today’s business traveler during the busy summer and back-to-school months to determine how the season might impact their decision-making while on the road. Here’s some of the results:

I Need a Vacation

64%
of business travelers who have extended a trip have done so secretly for personal vacation without telling someone, including their coworkers (
32%), boss (26%), and even their own partner (22%)

51%
of these business travelers have extended their business trips to explore the destination

56%
of business travelers say summer is the best time
to extend a business trip for a personal vacation

42%
of business travelers extended their trip
3-5 days

29%
of business travelers have skipped out on a meeting or work event to take a nap or do something restful while on a business trip

On the Home Front

43%
of business travelers with children in school have extended a business trip by 1-2 days specifically to take time for themselves

95%
of business travelers with school-age kids miss some school-related activities due to business travel; 75% business travelers miss activities frequently

69%
of business travelers, while on a business trip, stay connected with their children when school is in session to make sure they get their homework done

30%
of business travelers with kids and pets say they would prefer to travel with their pet and leave the kids at home

JLL unveiled its Hotel Industry Insights + Stats report for the first half of 2019 (H1 2019). Here are some key takeaways:

Investor sentiment remains optimistic but realistic, with hotel investment expected to be a second-half story as H1 2019 volume marks a 28% decrease

The decline in the first half of 2019 is attributable to 70% less portfolio sales activity

The two largest portfolios by volume to transact in H1 2019: Noble Investment Group’s multi-state hotel portfolio ($229M) and Summit’s six-hotel portfolio ($156.8M)

Single-asset hotel transactions activity remained consistent in H1 2019 relative to H1 2018 at approximately $9B, driven by the sale of luxury assets in resort markets, such as South Florida and Lake Tahoe

12 of the top-25 markets saw growth in RevPAR. The market capturing the highest increase in RevPAR at 8.1% was San Francisco

Nashville has demonstrated its momentum as a top secondary market with RevPAR growing nearly 4%, despite supply increasing by 7.9% in year-to-date June 2019

Private equity groups were active acquirers of hotel real estate and accounted for 45% of total volume

Stock price volatility in the first half of the year has limited REITs’ hotel investments to $1.5B, or 15% of total volume

After a slow start to the year, foreign investment accounted for 12% of volume in Q2 2019

After growing 2.8% in 2018, RevPAR is expected to record more moderate growth in 2019 of 2%, driven entirely by growth in room rates as opposed to occupancy

47% of Gen Zers choose to call a local hotel, compared to just 8% who would want to text with them, and 8% who’d communicate with them over social media. This is due to the speed of getting answers and to feel as though they’re speaking with a real human, according to Ooma, which released a study that dives into different generations’ preferred communication methods when it comes to booking travel and communicating with hotels.