The hotel and motel industry has experienced robust growth over the past five years — despite being highly susceptible to changes in the global economic environment. PwC’s midyear Hospitality Directions U.S. outlook expects the industry to remain stable through 2020, but there are some storm clouds on the horizon; the industry reported its lowest first-quarter year-over-year revenue per available room growth — 1.5 percent — since 2010.
Challenges Abound
A high tourist influx makes the entire hospitality industry quite lucrative, but hotel and motel operates face a number of challenges, according to eZee Absolute:
- Hiring and retaining staff
- Responding to changes in marketing trends and dynamics
- Operational issues
- Rising cost of daily consumables
- Housekeeping issues
- Changes in guest expectations
- Irregular cash inflows
- Data security issues
- Maintaining an online reputation
- Losing loyal customers
- Changing technology
- Not being data-driven
And then there’s the elephant in the room — the growth of local hospitality hosts, like Airbnb — which is changing the competitive landscape. Many travelers are turning to vacation rentals, which means hotels and motels need to offer something significant to woo guests, and there is normally a price tag attached to that.
The Need for Funding
Given that long list of challenges, it’s not hard to imagine why hotels and motels might need funding help to get them over a hump or even be able to keep the doors open. In particular, common reasons hotels or motels might need funding include:
- Making renovations or expanding the property
- Adding new amenities
- Hiring new employees
- Covering operational costs during downtimes
- Investing in updated technology and/or security
- Purchasing a new property
However, given the industry’s uncertainties, traditional funders like banks may shy away from providing the help hotel and motel owners need. It may be difficult if not impossible to secure a working capital loan or even a line of credit to draw from if things get tough.
What’s the Alternative?
While banks and other traditional funders seem to say “no” more often than not, Clear Skies Capital (CSC) focuses on saying “yes,” helping hotel and motel owners get access to the funds they need. And, because we know timing is usually an issue, our streamlined funding process includes very little paperwork, and approval can occur within 24 hours, even for those with less than perfect credit.
Flexibility is another reason to work with CSC. We customize our loans to meet clients’ specific needs and offer flexible terms up to 48 months. We also know hotel and motel owners don’t necessarily operate on a 9-to-5 schedule, so we offer 24-hour access to funding. And, our loans have fixed payments and interest rates — plus the interest is tax-deductible. It might sound too good to be true, but it’s not; this business model has been successful for many years.
The Takeaway
If you own a hotel or motel, you know it’s important to be able to provide a high-quality experience and evolve as necessary to stay competitive. Not having access to capital shouldn’t be the reason you remain stagnant. CSC has worked with many hotel and motel owners, so we’d love to share our expertise while investigating financing alternatives with you. Get started today! Discover how much you qualify for today.