FRANCHISING
253 | Franchising Report Part 1 – Power Struggle: New hotelier organization lobbies for franchisee protection
FRANCHISING
Fair franchising. It’s a phrase that’s been used countless times in negotiations with brands, at industry conferences and among associations formed to ensure a balance of power between franchisers and franchisees.
As the hotel industry in the U.S. celebrates nearly a decade of growth, leaner times are ahead, say forecasters. Owner operators are cutting as many expenses as they can but seem to be swimming upstream as costs are claiming more and more of their bottom lines.
Among the biggest expenses are franchisee fees, which are growing at a faster pace than room revenue.
Episode 253 of Lodging Leaders is the first in a series that’s exploring the issues brewing in the franchise industry.
To launch the series, Judy Maxwell, co-host of Lodging Leaders, attended Fair Franchising Initiative, a new organization formed to address hotel franchisees’ concerns with the current state of franchising.
Maxwell also interviewed a hotelier leading a petition drive to get AAHOA back to the discussion table with Choice Hotels International.
Featured are Prakash Shah and Anil Patel, president and chairman, respectively, of Fair Franchising Initiative; Keith Miller, principal of Franchisee Advocacy Consulting; and Sagar Shah, a next-generation hotelier who is leading the franchisee petition drive.
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FRANCHISING
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346 | Repositioning For Recovery: Hotel conversions to outpace new builds
Lodging Econometrics has tracked the hotel industry since 1998. Its global database includes new-hotel pipelines as well as renovations and brand conversions. Hotel franchisers once eager to launch new brands are focused on converting existing hotels because it’s a faster way to recover revenue lost to the COVID-19 pandemic than through new construction. In Episode 346, Lodging Leaders explores the increasing number of conversions in the U.S. hotel industry and what owners and operators need to consider before repositioning an asset.
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345 | ‘Rosy View of Future’: Hotel industry sees unleashing of pent-up investor demand
In the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., financiers anticipated a swell of distressed hotel businesses. Some raised rescue funds to respond to what they thought was a pending crisis. Though there are financial rescues taking place, the level of such activity is far below what industry advisers and fund managers expected. Commercial real estate investors positioned to act in the early days of the pandemic held off and are now just beginning to unleash their cash hoards totaling billions of dollars. Episode 345 of Lodging Leaders podcast explores the state of capital investment in the hotel industry.