27 January 2011
Hotel Lawyer with the pulse of the hotel industry from the ALIS conference in San Diego
After spending the past few days in San Diego at the Americas Lodging Industry Summit or ALIS conference, the hotel lawyers from JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® have a pretty good sense of the “pulse” of the industry. Although attendance at the conference was down significantly from last year, as cost-cutting continues, the mood was decidedly more optimistic, and lots of people were actively working on deals or projects.
We thought the mood reflected a sense of “Great Expectations” – a relatively optimistic sense that the worst is clearly behind us, and that things will only get better from here, however slowly. Debt capital has reemerged for existing projects with established cash flows, and a decent project may get quite a few competitive bids. Property transactions are also happening across the spectrum. Foreign investment, particularly from China is fueling some of the acquisition activity. The REITs and equity buyers are also very active.