Omni Frisco Hotel at The Star is part of a 91-acre entertainment district anchored by the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters and its 12,000-seat practice facility .

DEVELOPMENT

Unlike many of its peers , Omni Hotels owns hotels , it runs hotels and it ' s fine with that

TALKING BUSINESS WITH LONGTIME OMNI EXEC PETER STREBEL .

By DAVID EISEN

HOTELS interviewed Peter Strebel in his capacity as chairman of Omni Hotels & Resorts . He has since left the company and taken a position as president , Americas at software provider RateGain .

The COVID-19 pandemic created a gulf for the hotel industry along the lines of property type and location . For instance , while many leisurefocused and drive-to-market properties thrived , urban , big-box , convention hotels foundered . The chasm for Omni Hotels & Resorts , which is privately	held by Dallas-based TRT Holdings , existed right within its 55-hotel portfolio , a mix of pure resorts , convention properties and urban locales , such as the Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs , Va ., and the Omni Dallas , to name two disparate property types . Omni ' s portfolio mix combines around 40 % resort , 40 % convention and 20 % city center .	Coming out of the pandemic , according to Peter Strebel , who had been with Omni Hotels & Resorts since 2009 , but recently left to take an executive position at software provider RateGain , all pistons are firing in 2022 —“ a banner year ,” as Strebel called it , with revenue and EBITDA both exceeding 2019 levels . Things have improved for Omni year after year on the	earnings side , which is as much about luck as it is adroit and nimble decision-making . In 2020 , Omni made $ 40 million in EBITDA . “ Most companies lost money ,” Strebel said , attributing the positive result to the decision to keep resorts open during the summer . In 2021 , EBITDA improved dramatically to $ 360 million before climbing to $ 650 million
36 hotelsmag . com September 2023

HotelsMag September 2023 | Page 36

Unlike many of its peers , Omni Hotels owns hotels , it runs hotels and it ' s fine with that

The COVID-19 pandemic created a gulf for the hotel industry along the lines of property type and location . For instance , while many leisurefocused and drive-to-market properties thrived , urban , big-box , convention hotels foundered .