Daily Lodging Report Weekly Highlights

Just as China was beginning to show signs of strong momentum for hotels heading into the Lunar New Year, another report came out showing Omicron is too much of a headwind for hotels to overcome.

Asia Pacific hotel markets are still struggling more than the U.S. and parts of Europe, but signs are pointing to a flickering of life in coming months with border reopenings and potentially even some massive holiday travel in China.

Analysts signaled they like what's happening with Hyatt's push into more leisure-oriented properties following a nearly $2.7 billion acquisition.

Omicron cases are still surging around the world, but major brands like Marriott and Radisson and brands-on-the-rise like CitizenM are all signaling moves to accommodate travel demand and operations for the other side of this latest variant.

The rapid, explosive surge of Omicron cases around the world is weighing heavy on Asia-Pacific countries that were only just beginning to reopen their international borders. The latest variant once again puts those border reopening on ice — not ideal when the Winter Olympics is only weeks away.

The world may be on edge with a surge of new cases stemming from the Omicron variant, but governments are generally staying the course in keeping borders open. Hotel companies are maintaining growth mode with new deals and a potential blockbuster sale.

Hotel companies, developers, and investors all signaled this week with their various deals that they are all taking the long view on the hospitality industry. Omicron and the rest of the pandemic is a blip in the timeline of construction and brand expansion.

Leisure travel will continue to dominate hotel booking patterns into the new year, even if Omicron is only a minor blip on performance.

The Omicron variant hasn't impacted the global hotel industry as far as weekly performance data yet, but government regulations are already unfurling and pointing to a difficult winter ahead.

It's a week of good news for major U.S. cities while Asia Pacific sends mixed signals on reopening, much to the economic detriment of countries without much of a domestic traveler base.