After the coronavirus dealt a devastating blow to Austin hotels in 2020, rooms are now on a comeback call and the industry is in a position to look to the future, according to industry experts.
“As we communicate with other people in the lobby, they’re excited to faint and see new things, whether it’s food, music or events,” said Fernando Estala, director of sales and marketing for Austin Marriott Downtown. “This is a reset for everyone, adding hotels. “
The 31-story Marriott Downtown, located west of the Austin Convention Center, was built at the height of the pandemic and opened in March, when vaccines were being launched and the perception of recreation was returning.
More: Austin’s economy continues to recover after pandemic slowdown
“Tourism is starting to return, especially other people who were driving from destinations like Dallas and Houston,” Estala said, “but the weekday traveler, the business traveler, almost doesn’t exist. “
Now, with the return of major occasions such as the Austin City Limits Music Festival and Formula 1 racing, as well as a slight increase in business travel, Estala and other Austin hotel executives say they are positive towards 2022.
Tourism: Formula 1 race weekend welcomes Austin businesses
“We’re not where we need to be yet, but we think we’re in a very, very smart position,” Estala said. “Leisure is back and there is a huge demand for weekend travel. we’re starting to see more business visitors coming in over two or 3 days, and we’ve had a number of meetings of giant organizations. It’s a smart start. “
The hotel occupancy rate in Austin in October was 75%, up from 41% a year ago, according to Visit Austin, the city’s conference and visitors office, by comparison, the occupancy rate in October 2019 was 81. 4%.
Previous: After a lousy year, Austin expects a rebound in 2021
Meanwhile, airlines are betting on Austin as the industry wakes up, with airlines like American Airlines and Alaska Airlines announcing a wave of new nonstop flights.
“Anything that makes it less difficult for domestic and foreign travelers to get in the way is wonderful news for all of us,” said Nenad Praporski, general manager of Fairmont Austin, which sold out the city’s final week of Formula 1 racing.
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Oct. 25, the day after the F1 race, was by far the busiest day for passengers passing through the TSA, said Bryce Dubee, an airport spokesman.
“Overall for the year, although we increased overall passenger traffic by more than 79% compared to the same time last year, we are still 31% less than in 2019, our busiest year,” Dubee said. a busy summer season – July was our fifth busiest month in history and the busiest time of July – followed by some of the numbers we experienced in October tells us that the christmas season will be very busy here. “
Even with the improvements, demanding situations remain for the region’s hotel industry: the return has been carried out through tourists, but business and abroad will take much longer to regain momentum, analysts say.
“The summer tourism season has been strong, with a strong call to be pedestrians,” said Paul Vaughn, senior vice president of Source Strategies, a consulting company that tracks the Texas hotel industry. “Autumn and winter will be leaner, according to those regions about business, organization and conferences to fill hotels. Many congresses have been cancelled or reduced. “
Austin has long been horny with hotel developers, as it has had a seven-day market, which attracts weekend tourists and business travelers on Monday and Thursday.
A recent survey illustrates the extent of business loss Array hotels in Texas are expected to lose $4. 1 billion in business profits in 2021, down 60% from 2019 levels, according to a recent report from the American Hotel.
Hotels across the country are expected to end 2021 with more than $59 billion in business profits as of 2019 after wasting nearly $49 billion in 2020, according to the report.
At Austin’s iconic Driskill Hotel, which recently underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation of its suites, the organization’s meetings have begun to return, manager Chris Collins said.
“Companies are eager and excited to meet in person. Zoom has been helpful, however, this human interaction is something that other people need to come back to,” he said. “But they must do it safely, while bringing back a detail of fun. “
Vaughn said he doesn’t expect business to recover until 2023, and even then, he says it might not look like it did before the pandemic.
“We had an experiment last year and a part employing virtual meetings, so we still have a decision on how much savings large corporations will need to keep,” he said. “A market like downtown Austin thrives on business travel, and they’ve become artistic to fill the void. “
Amid the pandemic, some Austin-area properties, which added Austin Proper Hotel, Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and South Congress Hotel, advertised classic rooms as remote workspaces, while others remodeled meeting and convention rooms in offices to accommodate small groups. .
“There are a lot of features for them,” Vaughn said. They plan to rent a room for the night or to arrange special occasions to fill the convention rooms and facilities. Everything will even be different in 2022. “
The numbers tell the story when it comes to the hotel industry’s rebound and ongoing issues. Marriott International recently released third-quarter figures, which look like fake earnings from recreational travel.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, Marriott said its profit reached $220 million, up from $100 million at the same time last year. Revenue reached $3. 95 billion compared to $2. 25 billion, beating Wall Street expectations.
But the company, whose portfolio includes about 7,900 homes worldwide, totaling more than 50 in central Texas, said the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus has hurt its commercial business.
“In August, the global call slowed down a bit, basically due to the effect of the Delta variant and the upcoming delay in the return to the workplace of many companies,” CEO Anthony Capuano said on a conference call. “However, the call to stabilize in September before recovering in October. “
Hyatt Hotels Corp. also reported an increase in recreational travel. The company posted a profit of $120 million in the third quarter, recovering from a series of losses from the pandemic.
“The call for leisure continues to drive the recovery, and the momentum for business and organization is accelerating,” said CEO Mark Hoplamazian. “The recovery is evident in more markets as restrictions ease and borders reopen. “
Marriott’s newest business in Central Texas, the AC Hotel Austin Hill Country, located in southwest Austin, will open this month, after its planned debut in January 2021 was rejected.
“We’re literally in a critical era right now,” said the hotel’s general manager, Charlotte Tyer. “We’ve had a shortage of hard work with structure and chain issues, so the paints have been delayed a lot. “
The hotel at 7415 Southwest Parkway has a rooftop bar with Hill Country perspectives and will serve as an anchor for Lantana Place, a shopping mall that includes grocery shopping, dining, entertainment, fitness options and lounges.
Tyer said the location, close to Yeti, SolarWinds and AMD, will differentiate the assets.
“There is a shortage of hotels here, which is hard to believe. The wedding call is very strong and I see many full weekends for us with the leisure call,” Tyer said. the return of the business sector. “
As the hotel industry begins to emerge from its pandemic slowdown, a number of new projects are being built. Nine U. S. markets, including Austin, lately have 20 or more construction projects, according to a new report from Housing Econometrics. Austin has 28 projects with 3,577 rooms in the process, according to the report.
Among them is the Cambria Hotel Austin Downtown, an exclusive logo of Choice Hotels International. The assignment erupted in the historic Rainey Street district last month and is expected to open in the summer of 2023.
The Choice has about 60 Cambria hotels in the USA. In major hubs such as Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans and Phoenix, and more than 70 hotels in the works.
The 14-story, 212-room Austin Hotel will be at 68 East Ave. , near the Convention Center, Lady Bird Lake and Rainey Street Entertainment District.
The facilities will have a swimming pool, patio and terrace; an indoor/rooftop bar with 360-degree perspectives of the city; on-site catering; meeting and occasion area and a gym.
“Austin offers a little bit of everything from large corporations if you travel through paintings to world-class events, a top-notch food and arts scene and plenty of activities for leisure travelers,” said Janis Cannon, Choice Senior Vice President of Hotels. “The Cambria Hotel Austin Downtown will be in the middle of all those possibilities. “