Magnuson Hotels signed 80 Independent Collection hotel agreements in 2021, in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company’s model during the downturn focused on local markets and pricing supported by its global team. The company reported a 31.3 percent increase in occupancy and a 43. percent increase over 2019 in RevPAR for its Independent Collection for year-end 2021. These performance figures come in a recovery year.
Thomas Magnuson, CEO, said, “The pandemic has seen a shift in hotel source markets, with corporate travel and international travel as we’ve known it removed from hotels’ options. Our teams have instead looked domestically and locally at those businesses which are key to success and solid, long-term business.”
“Local government, medical, public safety, energy, transportation, construction, government, long-term corporate: The business market is now driven by essential business travel—the must-take trips, those small and medium-sized enterprises which have been getting in their cars and hitting the road,” Magnuson noted.
Further, Magnuson said, “With hotels drained of their cash reserves after two years of COVID and government support waning, we see a strong growth pipeline in 2022. Hotels are already responding to pressures of rising supply from Airbnb and also need a solution for the required renovations by publicly-traded franchise brands that mean $20,000 per room expense.”
Magnuson added that “ongoing changes to travel restrictions mean that dynamic pricing is now operating on a much shorter timescale, and states hotels will require distribution platforms with pricing automations and outsourced revenue management with 24/7 pricing and distribution support.”
