The Hotel Industry Thinks 2017 Could Be the Year Corporate Travel Bounces Back
Photo Credit: The InterContinental New York Barclay. A number of hotel CEOs and industry analysts believe 2017 will see an increase in business travel after a rocky 2016. InterContinental Hotels Group
Skift Take
Even though every day with the new Trump administration seems unpredictable, early signs have convinced many in the hotel industry that this might just be the year that corporate travel rebounds from its 2016 slump. However, given the new executive order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, some executives throughout the travel industry may be rethinking their outlook on corporate travel.
To say 2016 was a bit of a bumpy ride for hotels' corporate travel business, specifically transient, would be an understatement.
The uncertainty of a U.S. Presidential election, coupled with mega mergers, Brexit, Zika, and numerous geopolitical events left many corporations, especially those in the U.S., with tightened corporate travel budgets in 2016. And comments from hotel and travel industry executives in 2016 demonstrated that.
Just before the U.S. election results arrived, executives' responses were muted, and cautious.
Arne Sorenson, Marriott president and CEO, said, "Corporate customers are clearly cautious … For transient business, we expect current weak corporate demand to persist, although comparisons should get easier."
Hyatt president and CEO, Mark Hoplamazian, said, "… We've got clear data that says that short-term corporate bookings are weak or weakening."
Fast forward to January 2017, however, and many of Sorenson and Hoplamazian's peers seem to have
