
As with the rest of the country, the Tucson lodging market has been negatively affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. After reaching an all-time peak in performance in 2019, following eight years of nearly year-over-year growth, hotel performance came to a screeching halt in early March when travel restrictions began to take place around the country.

Governor Sisolak authorized certain businesses, including restaurants, barbershops, hair salons, and most retail businesses, to reopen with limitations beginning May 9, 2020, and Nevada began its emergence from the pandemic shutdown. Nevada’s casinos were allowed to reopen on June 4, 2020, with restrictions. While the pandemic is far from over, this article examines some of the differences observed in casinos in the Las Vegas market since reopening and what has been learned thus far.

The global Travel & Tourism sector is gradually coming back to life as several countries across the globe ease their lock down and travel restrictions. Governments across the globe are taking steps to revive the sector, some of which have been highlighted in this article.

Three U.S. major professional sports teams—the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League, Las Vegas Aces of the Women’s National Basketball Association, and Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League—are based in Las Vegas. The importance of sporting events for the Las Vegas market extends beyond serving as the home for these professional teams. The return of sports will contribute to Las Vegas’ eventual recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While numerous lodging brands are available to hotel owners through franchises, new brands continue to emerge. In 2020, several new brands have been introduced, providing unique niches in the marketplace to meet the demands of both hotel owners and guests. This article reviews the brands announced in 2020 and considers how they are poised to operate during the current economic climate.

Hala Matar Choufany, in her interview in Arabic on Al Arabiya News summarizes the impact of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry in GCC and how the recovery path looks like.

The Greek tourism industry has been hit the hardest; but it has also given people the opportunity to step back and fill in the missing gaps. A need to establish well-organised and empowered DMOs is apparent, in order to upgrade Greece's tourism product. Furthermore, the development of a corporate structure will assist family hotel businesses to entrench a desired financial position against stakeholders.

The focus of this research is on hospitality industry employees who are amongst the most severely impacted due to measures such as furloughs, terminations, and pay cuts. As the hospitality industry plans for recovery in the post COVID-19 era, it is essential for employers and leadership teams to take stock of where they stand today. The objective was to understand the current employee sentiment, confidence levels, loyalty, and the current state of mind of the employees’ decision-making process.

We raise key concerns and questions that are worth reflecting on to address the complex “new normal” that will govern future investments and operations in our industry. Although COVID-19 has challenged our fundamental forecasting approach that typically relies on predictable market trends and metrics, we share our assumptions pertaining to what the recovery model may look like for select cities in the GCC and the likely impact on EBITDA.

HVS is pleased to share the Hospitality GCC- Hotel Owner & Investor Survey. Despite the challenges and uncertainty, there will be better times and the hospitality and travel market will eventually come out stronger. The future winners are those that will create an ecosystem that is built on ethical principles and promotes a behavior that reflects a good corporate citizenship. Finally a strong risk mitigation approach, flexibility and innovation will remain key traits of successful organization