|
New York: The US hotel industry is looking to the Middle East and Asia for growth as the domestic economy slows down.
Company executives told an annual New York University hospitality conference this week that Eastern markets offered huge opportunities just as weaker consumer spending, troubled airlines and sky-high gas prices might threaten their domestic businesses.
"The centre of gravity is moving east," said Hilton Hotels chief executive Christopher Nassetta.
Nassetta said he expected hotels to spring up at a fast pace in the Middle East, India and China during the next few years.
Customers in these markets are more loyal to good brands, he added. "There is huge demand for all our brands in Asia-Pacific."
Such brand loyalty translates into good room rates, according to David Pepper, a franchise development executive with Choice Hotels International, which operates Comfort Inn and other budget chains.
Asked to look three to five years ahead for the industry, Global Hyatt chief executive Mark Hoplamazian predicted a "generational shift" where a growing consumer middle class in India and China will flock to hotels.
Investment hotbed
Meanwhile, the Middle East has become such a hotbed of investment that US banks are sending top bankers to head up offices in the region as markets there grow fast.
"We have huge liquidity coming out of the Middle East," said Trevor Horwell, chief hotels officer with Hard Rock Hotels Worldwide. The promise of the East contrasts sharply to the problems that many expect for hotels in the United States.
Barry Sternlicht, chief executive of hotel investor Starwood Capital Group, told the conference that the US hospitality and gambling industry was facing a tough 18 months.
In April, leading US hotel operators Marriott International and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide reported lower quarterly profits as the slowing economy hurt travel spending.
|
