Exclusive: Orlando’s hotel market booms with sales, new projects
October has been a busy month in the Central Florida hotel sales and development world.
New luxury hotel projects are kicking off on construction, redevelopment plans on I-Drive are being revived and hotels are changing hands. In fact, at least four major hotel properties and projects have made key moves this month. Why this matters: A healthy hotel market is an indicator of the tourism market’s health. Transactions and investment in the region also lead to new business opportunities.
Here’s what you need to know about this month’s hotel activity:
* Fairmont hotel project: The project team for New York-based Development Ventures Group’s proposed 550-room Fairmont Orlando hotel applied for a state permit on Oct. 21 for the stormwater system that will accommodate the property.
* I-Drive resort project: Unicorp National Developments Inc.’s planned redevelopment of the Wyndham Orlando Resort International Drive resort should lead to another $1 billion-plus of investment, including rebuilding the hotel on the property as a 600-room high-rise tower with additional apartments and retail space.
* Celebration Hotel: The 115-room hotel was bought by Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Vision Hospitality Group on Oct. 20.
* Castle Hotel: This unique property on International Drive is in the hands of a new owner. Boca Raton-based Waramaug Hospitality sold the 214-room hotel, part of Marriott International Inc.’s (Nasdaq: MAR) Autograph Collection family, to Orlando Castle Owner LLC on Oct. 13.
This hotel activity is proof the region is seeing a quick recovery from the Covid shutdown, which should lead to more investment.
For example, several hotel experts have said major local projects like Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe theme park — which is under construction and will open in 2025 — will result in a renewed interest to build and buy hotel properties in the market in time for when a new surge of tourists comes.
Also, Orlando has been the beneficiary of pent-up travel demand since Covid-19 vaccines have become more available and people have become more comfortable traveling.
Upcoming holiday trends look strong for the region, according to Visit Orlando CEO Casandra Matej. Advance hotel bookings for the final months of 2022 are pacing only slightly behind pre-pandemic levels. In addition, flight and hotel search trends for the market also are healthy indicators of incoming travel.
Data from Visit Orlando shows the local average hotel occupancy rate was 73.2% in August, up from 56.4% for the same time in 2021.
Central Florida’s tourism and travel industry, which includes hotels, is a $75 billion juggernaut that employs tens of thousands of direct and indirect workers in the region.