What's the state of hospitality lending?

As the year winds down, we look toward 2013. How will the hospitality real estate and finance markets differ from 2012? What new opportunities will the New Year bring? What, if any, impact will the United States Presidential Election have on the hospitality industry? Be a part of the conversation as our panel of hospitality industry professionals - Charlie Fritsch, Hotel Brokers International; Laurie Ivy, PMC Commercial Trust; and Joe McCann, Optimum Hotel Brokerage – look toward 2013 and discuss the issues most important to hotel real estate investment, financing and operation.

Webcast will feature the most recent hotel performance trends data as tracked by Smith Travel Research. Join Charlie Fritsch, president of Hotel Brokers International, and Jeff Higley, vice president of digital media & communications for STR/STR Global/HotelNewsNow.com, as they discuss the hospitality real estate industry market and opportunities for investment.

The 18th ANNUAL HOTEL FINANCING SURVEY sponsored by HOTEL BROKERS INTERNATIONAL and LODGING HOSPITALITY, distributed to nearly 200 industry lenders, surveyed the types of hotel lending available in the market, requirements for generating hospitality loans and opinion on the status of the lending industry this past year and for 2012. During this webcast, Ed Watkins, editor of Lodging Hospitality will join HBI President Charlie Fritsch to discuss the hotel financing market and share the results of this survey with the hospitality investment community.

The economic recovery has brought new opportunities in real estate investment, and hotel acquisitions seem especially well positioned to benefit from rising asset values and the recovering capital markets. The U.S. hotel industry closed 2011 with increases in occupancy, ADR and RevPAR. While the industry is not back to 2007 and 2008 levels, 2012 shows signs of continuing this upward trend and opening a new window of opportunity.

Join the Hotel Investor’s Marketplace Webcast as our panel of industry professionals discusses 2012: The Year of Opportunity.

Our Panel

Charles H. Fritsch, V, CHB
President, Hotel Brokers International
President, MBA Hotel Brokers, Inc.

Christopher G. Hurn
CEO & Cofounder
Mercantile Capital Corporation

Robert L. Hunter, Jr., CHB, ISHC
CEO, Hunter Realty Associates, Inc.
Co-chair, Hunter Hotel Investment Conference

Robert W. White
President
Hospitality Appraisals, Inc.

During the complimentary Hotel Investor's Marketplace Webcast scheduled for November 9, HBI president Joe McCann will be joined by lodging industry media... And, instead of posing the questions, these Editors will be answering them. Lodging industry Editors spend every day focused on the facts of the industry, participating in industry investment conferences, interviewing experts in the industry and studying industry analyses. They are familiar with all aspects of the industry. Through this Webcast industry Editors will share their perception on the State of the Lodging Industry. Webcast attendees will glean invaluable information on a variety of hospitality industry topics including: finance, hotel franchise and the overall health of the industry.

Panelists include:
Joe McCann, president, HBI / president, Optimum Hotel Brokerage LLC
Dennis Nessler, editor, Hotel Business
Stephanie Ricca, editor in chief, Hotel Management
Eric Stoessel, managing editor, Lodging Hospitality

In the first six months of 2011, Occupancy, ADR and RevPAR were all on the rise in the hotel industry. According to STR data, “The U.S. hotel industry finished June with the highest revenue per available room since August 2008.” Will this steady improvement continue into the second half of the year? What are the greatest opportunities for hotel investment? Join the Hotel Investor’s Marketplace Webcast as Joe McCann, president of Hotel Brokers International, and Jeff Higley, vice president of digital media & communications for HotelNewsNow.com/STR/STR Global, sit down to discuss the outlook for the hospitality real estate industry market. Jeff will share the most recent hotel performance trends data tracked by Smith Travel Research.

About the Presenters:
Joseph R. McCann, CHB, is president of Hotel Brokers International and president of Optimum Hotel Brokerage. Joe is a thirty-year hotel industry veteran who has held senior management positions with Hilton and Marriott at their largest and most successful properties. During his hotel brokerage career, he has closed more than $500 Million in hotel asset transactions and his Philadelphia-based firm, Optimum Hotel Brokerage, is recognized as one of the leading hotel brokerage and hotel capital advisory services companies in the United States.

Jeffrey Higley is the vice president of digital media & communications for HotelNewsNow.com/STR/STR Global. Jeff, a 26-year journalism veteran, has specialized in the hotel industry for the past 14+ years. He launched HotelNewsNow.com, a division of Smith Travel Research in September 2008. Prior to joining HotelNewsNow.com and Smith Travel Research in March 2008, Higley served in various leadership positions for Questex Media Group’s Hotel Management. Higley was instrumental in the company’s launch of Hotel Design, Luxury Hotelier and The Hotel Times magazines.

Fourth quarter 2010 brought a measurable uptick in the number of distressed hotel property and note sales. More than half of all distressed asset sales in 2010 transpired in the year’s final three months. Will this upward trend continue through 2011? When will the promised flood of distress come to market? Where will this year’s greatest opportunities exist? What strategies should a would-be-purchaser employ? Learn the answers to these questions and more as Joe McCann, president of Hotel Brokers International, and Jeff Kolessar, senior vice president of development of GF Management, sit down to discuss the great overhang of distress in the hospitality real estate industry market.

Social media networking has catapulted to the #1 activity on the Web and has changed forever the way in which we interact. Approximately 75% of all adult Americans use at least one of the hundreds of established social media platforms. While it can be overwhelming, social media is an essential component to a business marketing plan. Your marketing program doesn’t have to include all social media outlets, but there is a significant importance to having some kind of presence in the online social scene.

Join the Hotel Investor’s Marketplace Webcast on March 2 as we welcome Brian Bagel, social media director for TIG Global, who will talk about the overall importance of using social media in hotel marketing and share what tactical steps hotel owners/managers can take to improve their hotel’s online marketing.

TIG Global provides hotel Internet marketing management services to more than 800 hotels, resorts, restaurants and spas - from small, independent boutique properties to large international brands, located in more than 20 different countries around the world.

Presenters:
Joe McCann, CHB
President, Hotel Brokers International
President, Optimum Hotel Brokerage

Brian Bagel
Social Media Manager
TIG Global

Join the Hotel Investor’s Marketplace Webcast on November 17 as a panel of hospitality professionals analyze the results of the United States midterm elections and the impact they may have on the lodging industry. What ramifications, if any, will this election have on the hot button issues most important to hotel real estate investment and operation?

Participants in the discussion will include:

Tony DeGeorge, CHB
President, Hotel Brokers International (HBI)
President, Greene, Canfield, DeGeorge, Ltd.

Marlene M. Colucci
Executive Vice President, Public Policy
American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA)

Fred Schwartz
President
Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA)

Don’t miss this opportunity to attend the live Hotel Investor’s Marketplace Webcast and ask your questions about the important issues affecting the lodging industry.

As the economy continues its recovery, hotels are reporting an upward trend in operations. How long before this pick up in hotel demand and occupancy is reflected in valuations? Where are the greatest opportunities today for hotel investment? What is the outlook for the hospitality industry in 2011 and beyond?

Join us on September 1 as the Hotel Investor’s Marketplace Webcast welcomes Jeff Higley, vice president of digital media & communications for HotelNewsNow.com/STR/STR Global, who will take look at the 2010 performance of the U.S. hotel industry. Jeff will share hotel trends data tracked by Smith Travel Research.

PANELISTS:
Tony DeGeorge, CHB
President, Hotel Brokers International
President, Greene, Canfield, DeGeorge, Ltd.

Jeff Higley
Editorial Director, Digital Media/Director of Communications
HotelNewsNow.com/STR/STR Global

Sponsored by: Choice Hotels International

As the recession recedes, it is revealing an altered landscape in the field of lending. Are there hotel investment opportunities out there? Is financing available for hotel transactions? What does the latest SBA extension mean for hotel investors? How can a borrow speed up the funding approval process?

Join the June 2nd Hotel Investor’s Marketplace Webcast as our panel – Tony DeGeorge, Laurie Ivy and Charles Fritsch – will discuss these and other important issues affecting hospitality lending.

PANELISTS:
Tony DeGeorge, CHB
President, Hotel Brokers International
President, Greene, Canfield, DeGeorge, Ltd.

Laurie Ivy
Director of Hospitality Marketing
PMC Commercial Trust

Charles H. Fritsch, CHB
President, MBA Capital Funding
President, MBA Hotel Brokers

Sponsored by: Choice Hotels International

This webcast will be available on-demand following the live event.

Ed Watkins, Editor of Lodging Hospitality joins this presentation of the Hotel Investor’s Marketplace Webcast to report on the findings of a confidential survey conducted by Lodging Hospitality in conjunction with Hotel Brokers International. More than 450 lenders were surveyed for their input on the state of the hospitality lending market. The completed survey reports on the following:

• Lenders most active in the hospitality real estate sector
• Types of hospitality projects being funded
• Loan products available to finance hospitality projects
• Current lending criteria, parameters and terms
• Lender predictions for hotel financing in 2010

The final report of the survey will be published in the May 2010 issue of Lodging Hospitality magazine as well as in the 2010 edition of HBI’s TransActions Recap. In the meantime, join us for a sneak preview of the 2010 Lender Survey findings.

What changes will 2010 bring for the hospitality real estate industry? How are pipeline construction projects getting financed? What advice is AAHOA giving hotel owners? Listen in as we look to 2010 and are joined by:

Nancy Johnson
Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer
Select Service Hotels
Carlson Hotels Worldwide

Tarun S. Patel, CHA,
Chairman, AAHOA
President, Pacific Hospitality Company

David Wilner
Corporate Vice President
LQ Management., LLC

Join us as we welcome Jeff Higley, vice president, Smith Travel Research and editorial director, HotelNewsNow.com, who will take look at the 2009 performance of the U.S. hotel industry. In his presentation titled – The Bad, The Worse and The Ugly – Jeff will share hotel trends data tracked by Smith Travel Research.

Jeff Higley
Vice President, Smith Travel Research
Editorial Director, HotelNewsNow.com
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Preview a new selection of recently listed hotels being marketed by HBI Brokers. Each year, HBI Brokers account for the largest market share of hotel sales in the United States alone.

Hotel Investor’s Marketplace is an investment forum founded and hosted by Hotel Brokers International and is supported in part by:
Carlson Hotels Worldwide
Choice Hotels International
La Quinta Inns & Suites

Designed to connect active hotel investors, brokers and suppliers. The live, interactive webcast will cover the unique opportunities available in this real estate market. Investors will obtain the most current information on investment opportunities, hotel franchising, finance and valuation.

The webcast content is developed specifically to benefit:
Hotel Owners and Investors
Hotel Management Executives
Hospitality Acquisition Specialists

Hotel Investor's Marketplace is an investment forum founded and hosted by Hotel Brokers International and is supported in part by:
Carlson Hotels Worldwide
Choice Hotels International
La Quinta Inns & Suites