Articles tagged “wyndham”

The world's largest franchisor of hotels, Wyndham, makes a persuasive case that the U.S. is entering a multi-year boom in the franchising of economy — and midscale — hotels.

While all signs indicate that the hotel industry will continue to make progress in its recovery this summer, the rebound may not be as large as expected as high gas prices could deter some travel.

In Skift's top stories this week, Hong Kong will reopen to travelers from nine countries in April, the war in Ukraine is delaying world health officials' review of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, and family trips are expected to make a big rebound this year.

As the economy extended-stay segment tends to perform well during periods of both economic boom and bust, Wyndham's new brand should put the company in a prime position to continue posting profitable quarters.

Good morning from Skift. It's Wednesday, March 23, in New York City. Here's what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Expect other big hotel companies to add more economy extended-stay brands. They'll wager that a business model that reduces labor costs will have staying power for the long-term.

Wyndham plans to throttle its recovery forward with a wave of international openings this year. The uncertain factor is if investors want this, given the company's resilience during the pandemic stemmed from domestic travel demand.

Marriott, Hilton, Choice Hotels, and Wyndham all swung to profitability last year, per earnings reports this week. Even if Hyatt didn't, the other reports mostly amounted to a strong sign of recovery well under way for hotel companies with a significant presence in the U.S.

Affordable hotels and a focus on resilient, on-the-road business travel segments like infrastructure accounts throttled Wyndham back to pre-pandemic performance levels. Maintaining focus on its strengths sets it apart from direct competitor Choice Hotels.

Omicron soured hotel recovery momentum at the end of last year, but high daily rates for U.S. hotels and groundbreakings in China offer two growth narratives amid the pandemic setback.