Industry News

MOUNTAIN SHADOWS RESORT PROJECTED TO OPEN IN EARLY 2017

Westroc Hospitality and Woodbine Development Corporation are partnering to develop a new luxury resort on the former location of Paradise Valley’s iconic Mountain Shadows Resort. With escrow now closed, construction will begin at the southwest corner of 56th Street and Lincoln Drive in the summer of 2015, with a projected opening in early 2017. The boutique luxury resort will feature 180 modern guest rooms in two buildings, an adjacent building with 32 hotel-condominium units, a neighborhood restaurant and market, high-tech fitness facility, and the rehabilitated Mountain Shadows Golf Course featuring 18 executive-style holes. Westroc CEO and Paradise Valley resident Scott Lyon stated, “This is a tremendous opportunity to blend the history of the property with a fresh, contemporary design that will complement the amazing views of Camelback Mountain within the prestigious neighborhood of Mountain Shadows in Paradise Valley.”

MORE THAN HALF OF AMERICANS SAY ECONOMY HAS NO IMPACT ON TRAVEL

According to a recent Harris Poll, more than half of Americans say their outlook on the U.S. economy has no impact on their likelihood to travel this summer – an overall 13 percent improvement from when this question was first asked six years ago. Nearly seven in 10 Americans (68 percent) have at least one leisure trip planned for summer 2015 (May through August), a slight increase from the 66 percent who planned one last year and an overall steady growth rate since the 60 percent who planned a trip three years ago for summer 2012. Twenty-seven percent still say they are less likely to travel this summer due to their outlook on the U.S. economy, but that percentage continues to decrease year over year. These are among the findings from a Harris Poll of 2,215 U.S. adults (aged 18 and older) surveyed online from April 16-20, 2015. When those planning at least one leisure trip over the summer are asked what types of destinations they plan to visit, beach locations (43 percent) rise to the top. In a distant second place, vacationers will visit the downtown/center of a city (32 percent), followed by a national/state park (24 percent) and countryside/rural locations (22 percent). Two in 10 are planning to hit a mountain location (21 percent), a suburban area (20 percent), or a theme park (19 percent), and 16 percent plan to find themselves on a leisure/discovery vacation (e.g., spa, wine country, golf or other unique attraction). Millennials are more likely than any other generation to be planning a downtown/center of a city vacation (40 percent vs. 27 percent Gen X, 28 percent Baby Boomers, and 26 percent Matures). (TravelAgentCentral.com, May 26)

U.S. TRAVELERS PLAN TO SPEND MORE ON VACATIONS THIS YEAR

The amount of leisure travel Americans will do this summer and the rest of 2015 will be lower than last year, but this won’t lessen vacation spending, a new survey finds. Though not a significant decrease, 66 percent of the 2,300 U.S. adults that took part in an MMGY Global survey indicated they plan to take at least one leisure trip during the next six months, down from 69 percent for the same period last year. This finding relates to a Skift survey earlier this year that found 42 percent of Americans didn’t take a single vacation day in 2014. U.S. business travel growth for the next six months also will be negligible: Some 31 percent of respondents said they’re planning to take at least one business trip, nearly unchanged from 30 percent for the same period last year, and business traveler respondents expect to take an average of three trips before the end of the year, down from 3.7 trips last year. Vacation spending won’t slow down with fewer Americans taking vacations, as was the case last year. About 27 percent of respondents said they plan to spend more on their vacations during the next six months, up from 22 percent for the same period last year, when asked if they’ll spend more, less or about the same as last year. The strengthening dollar and lower gas prices are two factors the survey points to for why vacation spending likely won’t drag this summer. (Skift.com, May 19)

ONE IN EVERY FIVE DOLLARS SPENT ON TRAVEL COMES FROM MOBILE

Adobe released its annual Digital Index Travel Report, which analyzed more than 15 billion visits across major U.S. travel, airline and hotel sites between 2013 and 2015 and more than three million social media mentions. Consumers are expected to spend $65 billion online on travel between Memorial Day and Labor Day, 7 percent more than in 2014. Other key findings include: 20 percent of travel bookings are now coming from smartphones and tablets, over 6 percent more than last year. And more consumers are booking trips via smartphones than tablets for the first time. The analysis also shows that Washington D.C. tops the list of U.S. travel destinations followed by Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas and San Francisco. (HotelNewsResource.com, May 21)