HotelsMag Jan-Feb 2024 | Page 6

SPECIAL REPORT

New Year . Similar Stories . Fresh Hope .

2023 WAS SO LAST YEAR . HERE ’ S HOW 2024 COULD SHAPE UP , ACCORDING TO THE PEOPLE WHO SHOULD KNOW .
By DAVID EISEN

Thomas Jefferson , to many , was several things : a Founding Father , the primary author of the Declaration of Independence , a U . S . president . He helped birth a nation . He was an unmistakable and eternal optimist , possessing an innate capacity for optimism . It ’ s no wonder he is credited with saying : “ I like the dreams

of the future better than the history of the past .”
The hospitality industry could use some Jeffersonian positivity as it pushes ahead into a new year , one likely to be filled with both challenge and opportunity , excitement and fear . One thing is certain , there is no shortage of trends and storylines to propel it through the next 12 months .
“ How it started , how it ’ s going ” has become a popular meme for showing the passage of time . If the hotel industry 2023 was pasted up on Instagram with the tagline , how it started might look a lot like how it ’ s going . To borrow from French : comme ci , comme ça . Translation : not very good , not very bad . Though capital markets
have not made it easy on the transactions market at all , hotel operational performance has been undeterred , as demand for travel — particularly leisure — has blossomed , with corporate and group travel making a strong comeback , as well . Paired with lower supply , hotels are in a strong cash-flow position as the calendar turns . However , should a recession
6 hotelsmag . com Jan / Feb 2024