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Summary List PlacementThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused travel demand to plummet.  To cope, some major hotel brands have pivoted, creating new reasons for travelers to book a stay at their properties.  In recent conversations with Insider, executives at Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and Four Seasons each said they had developed offerings to appeal specifically to remote workers looking for a change of scenery.  It's part...

Summary List PlacementTravel professionals will argue that their industry was likely the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, as global shutdowns thwarted large amounts of planned business trips and family vacations last year. US hotel revenue in 2020 fell nearly 50% to $84.6 billion, according to a recent report on the state of the industry by the American Hotel & Lodging Association. The same...

Summary List PlacementThe hospitality industry has been hit hard by the novel coronavirus pandemic, with many restaurants closing throughout the US. But some restaurants have tapped into a unique way to adapt their business, while also filling a need for companies and nonprofits that can't throw their usual holiday parties or fundraisers this year. "Right when the shutdown happened, we had to pivot and...

Summary List PlacementShort-term rental startup Kasa Living announced a $30 million Series B fundraise in October of this year, just as other companies in the sector were seeing severe distress.  The coronavirus has hit the short-term rental industry hard, as companies had to deal with a slew of cancellations in the early days of the pandemic, followed by widespread changes in travel patterns, causing...

Summary List Placement Food and beverage programs are typically a costly undertaking for hotels.  It's a long-accepted notion in the hospitality industry that hotels might lose money on food and beverages but that they need to offer it to entice customers. In recent years, some hotels have pivoted to grab-and-go options to avoid having to maintain the staff and costs that a full room-service...

Hotels and destinations around the US are ramping up health and safety measures as tourism and traveling take a hit from COVID-19.  Some are adding changes as small as temperature checks for employees, while others are forming dedicated "SWAT" — Sanitation and Wellness Awareness Team — to clean high-touch surfaces and areas.  One historic hotel in El Paso, Texas, even installed specialized HVAC-mounted ionizers. ...

Adam Ozimek, chief economist at the flexible staffing company Upwork, predicts the US is entering a temporary recovery period. Though consumer spending on restaurants and travel has decreased since March, demand will pick back up after a vaccine allows for large crowds to gather safely. But without more stimulus to help the hospitality industry, businesses will permanently close and jobs creation could take up...

Airbnb-backed apartment rental company Zeus Living has been asking landlords to renegotiate leases into revenue-share agreements or cancel their contracts, according to documents viewed by Business Insider.  Zeus has also told landlords that they wouldn't be paid their April or May rent without signing the new revenue-share agreements, according to an email viewed by Business Insider. Last Monday, CEO Kulveer Taggar hosted a Zoom...

Benefit Street Partners is attempting to selling $80 million of distressed debt it holds against the Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn. The sales effort is one of the first signs that lenders of souring hotel property debt could seek to part with troubled loans, handing them off, potentially at a discount, to opportunistic buyers.  Hotel occupancy and room rates have fallen precipitously amid the coronavirus...