Group Bookings Slowdown Showing Up Already in Hotel Earnings
Photo Credit: The Hyatt Regency Orange County Flickr / The Hyatt Regency Orange County
Skift Take
As the U.S.-China trade war drags on, its effect on group business travel becomes more and more apparent. An uncertain political environment within the U.S. is also probably having an impact.
A recent Cvent report forecast a decline in group bookings for late 2020, but for many hotel companies, this decline is already being felt.
Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG experienced a slowdown in group bookings in the first half of 2019, Skift found in its analysis of hotel earnings. In part, this was due to trade tensions with China, an issue which threatens to stretch through next year. Marriott, meanwhile, came up as an outlier, reporting healthy corporate booking in spite of a business climate that has sometimes been a lag on biz travel.
In Hilton’s 2019 second quarter earnings, the hospitality company reported a decline in group bookings in the U.S. and weak leisure demand in China. Many corporations have cut back on expenditures as they wait for the uncertainty to blow over, and a trade deal to be reached.
“More people are putting their caution flags up,” said Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta in an earnings call in July. "Talking to other CEOs, talking to friends — any
