July 26, 2023

AAHOA Honored by Elk Grove Mayor and CLIA Veteran Champion

The Asian American Hotel Owner's Association (AAHOA) held a packed Town Hall meeting in Elk Grove, CA. The North Pacific Regional Director, Ankit Panchal, received a Special Proclamation from Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen acknowledging AAHOA's efforts in engaging with all levels of government. Mayor Singh-Allen is also a veteran hospitality and tourism champion for CLIA and Visit California. She celebrated AAHOA's success as the largest hotel owners' group in the country during her welcoming remarks. 

SBA ISSUES NEW PPP ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES

By Matt Carrier



As hoteliers are all too familiar, the hospitality industry was among those hardest hits by COVID-19. When travel demand plummeted amid the extreme uncertainty the pandemic created, the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was vital to keeping hotels across the country afloat. The program gave hoteliers the funds to pay staff, keep the lights on, and retain their assets as occupancy fell to historic lows. Back then, AHLA advocacy was instrumental in ensuring hoteliers could access tens of billions of PPP dollars. Now, we are pleased to share that hoteliers will benefit from an important update to the program that AHLA worked to secure.

In June, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued new PPP eligibility guidelines for hotel owners. These guidelines clarify that owners who received a loan and utilize third-party management companies are eligible for PPP loan forgiveness for expenses paid via a management company. The changes will ensure that hotels facing improper loan forgiveness denials will have their cases properly adjudicated and, crucially, protect the thousands of hotel owners whose loans have already been forgiven. They follow months of painstaking AHLA advocacy work on behalf of hotel owners across the country.

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Hotel Stocks Rally on Strength of Summer Demand

Stock Index Up Nearly 15% Across First Half of 2023

by  Robert McCune

As the summer travel season heated up in the U.S., so did hotel stocks.

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index, comprising 20 of the largest hotel brand companies and real estate investment trusts publicly traded on a U.S. stock exchange by market capitalization, recorded a 6.2% overall improvement from May to June.

That was nearly even with S&P 500 index, representing the broader economy, which was up 6.5% month over month. Hotel brands on the index alone outperformed the S&P 500, recording a 7.4% improvement. The hotel REIT sub-index, however, lagged at just a 1.8% gain, compared to a 4.3% improvement by the RMZ, or MSCI US REIT Index, which is a gauge of the overall real estate investment market.

Year to date, the Hotel Stock Index is up 14.9% — nearly back to where it started the year, up 16.4% from the end of December to the end of January. The brand sub-index has led the bulk of that growth, up 18.4% year to date compared to a 3.3% improvement of the REIT sub-index.

In comparison, the S&P 500 and the RMZ are up 15.9% and 3.3% year to date, respectively.

Hotel Stock Index performance month to month in 2023 has been split evenly between gains and losses, though the losses have not added up to the gains.

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Home Suite Home: Self Directing the Hotel Room Experience

by Glenn Haussmann

How customers interact with the guestroom is evolving, mirroring the at-home experience. As home automation and access to personalized content becomes standard, guests expect the same for their hotel stay. Now, hoteliers must rethink the in-room experience. In this thought leadership discussion, experts share how hoteliers can give guests flexibility for how they watch content, as well as emerging solutions allowing guests to control every element of the room through personalized devices that helps increase loyalty.

•      Anna Scozzafava, VP, Extended Stay Brands, Strategy & Operations at Choice Hotels International
•    Ron Pohl, President of International Operations, President of WorldHotels, BWH Hotel Group
•    Matt Schwartz, CTO, Sage Hospitality
•   Kristen Hanich, Director of Research, Parks Associates
•   Kim Twiggs, DirecTV, Associate Vice President of Market Development at DIRECTV
•   Peter Palli, SVP Commercial & Technology, Property, Owner, & Stay Experience Products & Platforms, IHG

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