The hospitality industry is currently facing an uncertain landscape, according to multiple executives at the 2025 Hunter Hotel Investment Conference at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. Led by Mitch Patel, founder and CEO of Vision Hospitality Group, the “Market Overview: Financial Analysis and Forecast” panel discussed various topics affecting the hospitality industry including the economy and a potential recession, the transaction market, and the hotel development landscape.
Uncertainty is driven by a variety of factors, according to the panelists. Robert J. Webster, vice chairman, of CBRE, said, “When we think through trying to predict where we are, because it’s difficult to predict what’s going to happen, we’ve never had this much uncertainty thrown at us. … I try to always look at the conditions on the field as they exist today, not what I wish the conditions to be.”
“If you just stick with the data points, we’re coming off of a 15-year-low interest rate party, and that’s all shifted in an unprecedented way over the last three years,” Webster added. “And so, I think we need to adjust our thinking, and that adjustment is taking time.”
Daniel C. Peek, president, of JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group, agreed that the industry is “certainly in a slowdown” and will “see some slower activity” in the transaction market. He mentioned that a top-line focus for hoteliers amid the uncertainty should be corporate and consumer confidence, which “has taken a short-term hit.”
“At the end of the day, we live in a world of relatively free exchange of goods and ideas,” Peek said. “Obviously tourism, we want travel, tourism as an export. We want to see that dynamic. But definitely, there’s a concern, and I think confidence is probably the thing we should be focusing on the most.”
Throughout the conference, experts have been discussing a potential recession on the horizon. Greg Friedman, managing principal and CEO of Peachtree Group, said that new policies and tariffs “could potentially drive us into an economic recession, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because it helps bring rates down. But some of that challenge is that volatility is going to make 2025 really tough to operate in this type of environment.”
Teague Hunter, president and CEO, of Hunter Hotel Advisors, mentioned that there’s always a bid-ask spread, and during peak 2021-2022, some within the industry were discussing the impact of a recession to buy more assets. But he noted, “It doesn’t work that way. When there’s a recession, there’s a recession for a reason. It’s because nobody has any money. Guess what? That means you don’t have any money either.”
Rates, revenue, and the cost of goods—these are a broad overview of the factors of concern for hoteliers in this landscape. Friedman said, “The biggest advice I’d give [to hoteliers] is be proactive because this environment is taking longer to transact. … I would recommend being very proactive and being very constructive and trying to work with your current lender.”
And as the industry continues to navigate these challenges, each of the panelists urged hoteliers to be patient. Patel added, “Storms will come and go. … There are a lot of things we can’t control; we could talk about it all day long. But focus on the things you can control.”
