This week in Hospitality & Tourism #40 2023

Chipotle is Now Testing a Robotic Digital Makeline

Chipotle announced Tuesday it's testing an automated digital makeline in collaboration with an advanced robotics company it invested in more than a year ago.

Chipotle is one of several quick-service chains diving further into automation to optimize labor.

Domino’s and Microsoft to Create AI-Focused ‘Innovation Lab’

Domino’s announced Tuesday it’s teaming with Microsoft to “create the next generation of pizza ordering and store operations.” Through the partnership, the chain will leverage Microsoft Cloud and Azure OpenAI Service to transform guest experiences through enhanced ordering, personalization, and simplification, the company said.

STR: U.S. hotel results for week ending 30 September

As expected, U.S. hotel performance was lower than the previous week, but year-over-year comparisons were improved, according to CoStar’s latest data through 30 September.

• Occupancy was up year over year on the positive side of the Rosh Hashanah calendar shift. At the same time, the Yom Kippur observance led to lower levels on weekdays.
• The Top 25 Markets saw solid growth across all days of the week because of the easier year-over-year comparable.
• San Francisco/San Mateo experienced the largest year-over-year increases in occupancy (+10.9% to 83.2%) and RevPAR (+22.6% to US$215.61).
• Washington, D.C. also eclipsed 20% in RevPAR growth (+20.3% to US$154.13).
• Oahu Island (+10.3% to 79.0%) and Minneapolis (+10.0% to 67.1%) were the other two markets to report double-digit occupancy growth.
• New York City once again posted the highest jump in ADR (+13.7% to US$342.45).
• Atlanta saw the steepest declines in occupancy (-6.4% to 64.6%) and RevPAR (-7.7% to US$79.56).

24-30 September 2023 (percentage change from comparable weeks in 2022, 2019):

• Occupancy: 66.7% (+0.8%, -1.7%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): US$157.89 (+4.6%, +20.7%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): US$105.31 (+5.4%, +18.7%)