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Hospitality
1-in-10 hospitality businesses closed in the last year
One in 10 Australian hospitality businesses closed over the past year, according to CreditorWatch’s Business Risk Index. Around 9.6% of all Australian businesses in the sector closed in the twelve months ended April 2025, the highest of any industry and a new record. While insolvencies have largely plateaued, they remain at high levels, with 1,255 insolvencies reported last month. “We hear so much about the cost-of-living crisis, but it’s a ‘cost of doing business crisis’ as well, with businesses having seen significant increases in their cost bases,” said CreditorWatch Chief Economist Ivan Colhoun. Hospitality businesses are also affected by cost-of-living issues, according to Colhoun and CreditorWatch CEO Patrick Coghlan. “Businesses exposed to discretionary spending experience the worst of both worlds, with their costs pressured and their customers’ demand weakened. Hopefully the recent interest rate cuts by the RBA can build on the beneficial effects of last year’s income tax cuts and cost of living support,” Colhoun said. South Australia saw the highest rate of hospitality business closures in the past year, at 10.8%. Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory also all saw closu
Hospitality
Endeavour taps Hrdlicka as it untethers from Woolworths
Retail drinks and hospitality business Endeavour Group (ASX: EDV) has tapped ex-Woolworths and aviation executive Jayne Hrdlicka to become its new managing director and chief executive officer starting 1 January next year. Hrdlicka, a seasoned executive with a strong track record of leading major Australian consumer businesses, will take the helm to steer the company’s strategic growth and transformation away from Woolworths as its own entity. Endeavour owns liquor brands Dan Murphy's and BWS, which Hrdlicka is no stranger to, having served as a non-exec director of Woolworths between 2010 and 2016 in a period that included exposure to Endeavour Group's liquor brands and the ALH Hotel Group.Wealth of experienceHrdlicka’s most recent role was Group CEO of Virgin Australia, where she successfully steered the airline out of administration and restored profitability, achieving a record EBIT margin of 14.4% in H1 FY25. Her career began as a management consultant at Bain & Company in the U.S. and Australia, rising to Senior Partner. Other career highlights include:Advised Woolworths from 1999 to early 2004 as a strategic consultantServed as CEO of JetstarLed Qantas Loyalty as CEOManaging Director and CEO of The a2 Milk Company
Hospitality
Trump Jr's private club has $500k membership fee
Donald Trump Jr. is one of the co-founders of a new private membership club in Washington, D.C., that requires a $500,000 membership fee to join. The club, Executive Branch, held a launch party on Saturday night. It already has a waiting list despite the hefty membership fee, and additional annual dues. At the weekend's party, described as an afterparty for White House Correspondents Dinner, it had members of United States President Donald Trump’s administration, CEOs and tech founders in attendance.Credit: POLITICOTrump Jr. is just one of the Executive Branch co-founders, alongside Omeed Malik and Christopher Buskirk of 1789 Capital, an investment firm that made Trump Jr. a partner last year, and Alex and Zach Witkoff, sons of billionaire real estate developer, and long time friend of Trump Sr., Steve Witkoff. CNBC reports that White House crypto czar David Sacks, crypto investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss and tech investor Chamath Palihapitiya are all founding members who beat out the waiting list. The Executive Branch will officially open in Georgetown in the next couple of months, making it one of the most expensive membership clubs in the nation.
Hospitality
Lot on the plate of Australia's hospitality industry
Australian hospitality has survived another year mostly intact, but both this year and the year before have been challenging. For most Australians in 2024, the cost of living crisis was at the forefront again, causing them to spend less and less on non-essential ingredients such as restaurants, cafes and bars. Coupled with rising rents, staffing struggles, inflation and taxes many iconic Australian venues have been forced to close their doors in the last 12 months. Azzet spoke with Wes Lambert, CEO of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association, to reflect on the economic year for the industry. He also discussed hospitality’s hopes for 2025. Formed in May of 2024 Lambert says ACRA was “born from a large group of restaurant groups, cafe owners and restaurant owners around Australia that didn't feel that they had a strong enough voice”. “The industry has been doing it tough and at the same time demand has been flat," Lambert says. “They'd seen multiple legislative, multiple policies and laws put into place that were negative to hospitality. The minimum wage review committee has put wages up over 15% in the past three decisions. Insurance has skyrocketed, utilities have skyrocketed.” Businesses have been facin
Hospitality
Hospitality empire crumbles under millions in debt
A suite of restaurant brands has reported a $288 million loss, after recently being taken over by lenders. The hospitality group, now called Pacific Hunter, grew out of celebrity chef Neil Perry’s Sydney steak restaurant, Rockpool by merging it with other hospitality assets back in 2016 and Perry subsequently left the company. It includes Spice Temple, Sake, Fratelli Fresh, El Camino Cantina and Beerhaus, with sixteen of its venues closing over the 2023-24 financial year and the group reporting a $76 million loss in 2022. High inflation and cost-of-living pressures have devastated the hospitality industry in recent months, but sales actually increased at Pacific Hunter in the 2023-24 financial year. The company reported $298 million in sales, up from $209 million the year before. Despite the increase, the group has still struggled under the weight of high debts and payments to suppliers and employees increased from $198 million in the 2022-23 financial year, to $304 million the past financial year. In October, Pacific Hunter’s major lender, Metrics Credit Partners, took full ownership and control of the company from Quadrant Private Equity. Metrics took on the company’s loans and the company currently has $420

Hospitality
Charter Hall increases shout for Australian pubs owner
Property group Charter Hall is going all out with its strategy of expanding into the hotel sector by declaring its $756 million joint takeover bid for Hotel Property Investments (HPI) free of all conditions. Charter Hall Retail REIT said although the conditions of the offer - launched in September - of $3.85 per stapled security had not been fulfilled, the bid was now free of conditions. One condition had been that Charter Hall and joint bidder, superannuation fund Hostplus, achieve a minimum acceptance level of 50.1% compared with the 14.7% owned at the time of the offer and the 34.85% stake held now. The offer has been rejected by the Hotel Property Investments board, saying it was opportunistic and materially undervalued the target based on net tangible assets and comparable transactions. Charter Hall Retail, which owns a portfolio of retail properties such as neighbourhood and regional shopping centres and service stations, launched the bid as part of its strategy to expand its portfolio with high-quality, income-generating hotel assets. HPI owns a $1.3 billion portfolio of 59 pubs and other properties which are primarily leased to the Australia's second-largest hospitality group, Australian Venue Co. Hotel P
Hospitality
Marriott Q3 misses, cuts outlook on China weakness
Marriott International reported third-quarter earnings on Monday, revealing challenges in the China market that impacted overall performance and led to a lowered full-year outlook. The hotel giant posted an adjusted EPS of $2.26, falling short of the anticipated $2.31. Quarterly revenue reached US$6.26 billion (A$9.49 billion), narrowly missing the consensus of $6.27 billion. RevPAR (revenue per available room) grew in key regions, with a 2.1% rise in the U.S. and Canada and a 5.4% increase internationally. However, a 7.9% drop in Greater China RevPAR tempered these gains, reflecting ongoing market headwinds in the region. Marriott’s adjusted EBITDA rose to $1.23 billion from $1.14 billion in the same period last year. The company also saw fee revenue growth, with base management and franchise fees up 7% at $1.12 billion, while incentive management fees increased to $159 million from $143 million a year earlier. As of the quarter’s close, Marriott's development pipeline included approximately 3,800 properties and over 585,000 rooms. This total encompasses about 34,000 rooms approved but not yet contracted, with over 220,000 rooms under construction. Marriott’s debt stood at $13.6 billion, with cash reserves totaling
Hospitality
Hilton's latest earnings report: A mixed bag of results
Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT) has released its third-quarter earnings report for 2024, revealing a mix of positive and negative outcomes. Christopher J. Nassetta, President & CEO of Hilton, said, "We were pleased to deliver continued strong bottom line results that exceeded our guidance, despite slower top line growth which was driven by modestly slower macro trends, weather impacts, and unfavorable calendar shifts. We continued to demonstrate the strength of our model, opening more rooms than any other quarter in our history, surpassing 8,000 hotels, and achieving net unit growth of 7.8%." While Hilton's earnings report shows solid growth in several areas, the company's stock dipped 5.3% in pre-market trading due to lower-than-expected revenue and a revised earnings forecast for fiscal 2024. Here are the key highlights.Financial performance:Net Income: Hilton reported net income of $344 million in the third quarter. Earnings Per Share (EPS): Diluted EPS was $1.38, while adjusted EPS was $1.92. Revenue: The company's quarter revenue rose by 7.3% to $2.867 billion from $2.673 billion last year. System-wide Comparable RevPAR: Increased by 1.4% currency-neutral compared to the same period in 2023.Operat