Around 44% of US corporate travel managers think that travel volume will shift to virtual in 2021, up from 34% when surveyed in October. The expectations are a bit more optimistic for 2022, showing only 27% expecting the shift up from 22%.

According to pipeline data as at December 2019, there were 3,867 hotels and 603,037 rooms set to open in 2020. Of these, 322,561 rooms were completed, equating to a 53% completion rate. This is a substantial drop compared to 2019 when completed hotel projects totaled 77% of the pipeline.

For the week of Feb. 28 to March 6, 2021, U.S. hotel revenue per available room was slightly more than half of what it was in 2019, $48.13 compared to $87.75.

Blackstone Group Inc. and Starwood Capital Group have agreed to acquire hotel owner and operator Extended Stay America Inc. for $6 billion.

The Baird-STR Hotel Stock Index grew by 22.4% in February, following an 8.2% month-over-month decline in January. By comparison, the S&P 500 index was up 2.6% in February.

The hotel and lodging industry is making a $5 million commitment to reverse patterns of discrimination and exclusion. The five-year plan from the American Hotel & Lodging Foundation aims to increase diversity in the industry.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. said it has agreed to sell its Las Vegas properties, including the Venetian Resort Las Vegas and the Sands Expo and Convention Center, for about $6.25 billion as it looks to reinvest in its core Asia operations.

The city of San Diego paid $106 million in late 2020 for two hotels to house the homeless — $67 million for the 192-key Residence Inn Mission Valley and $39.5 million for the 144-key Kearny Mesa Residence Inn.

A study of more than 5,000 hotels across the U.S. has found that 64% of the country’s hotel workers currently earn less than the Biden administration proposed new federal minimum wage of $15 an hour.

Marriott International Inc. ended 2020 with a loss of $267 million—its first annual loss since 2009—as the company absorbed the effects of the downturn in global travel during a pandemic that emptied most of its rooms last March and continues to sap demand.