After having experienced a very busy summer travel season that hoisted the company to almost-recover status in the post-COVID era, the chairman of Omni Hotels Resorts believes that the steady travel pace will continue into this year s holiday season.
People have spent the last two Christmases away from their family, away from their friends. People are going to have to get together no matter what it costs, according to Peter Strebel, Omni spokesman. Peter Strebel told FOX Business Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday on Mornings with Maria. With the cost of airline tickets up more than 33% year-over-year, and more Americans starting to plan ahead for holiday travel plans, Strebel argued that decades-high inflation won't affect the number of bookings Omni s anticipates.
Strebel noted that the cost is going to be a lot more than it has been. Our customer base is more on the luxury side of the coin. We're not as affected by inflation. Since May of this year, Omni has been beating its peak earnings numbers each month, according to its chairman, noting that leisure travel has returned to a stable pace after the COVID- 19 pandemic closures.
We've been very busy, which is great to see. Strebel said we're almost fully staffed. I think the business is almost there, and almost recovered, and on its way. With more than 50 properties across North America, Strebel contributed to Omni's revenue growth from the pent-up demand for group and business travel after the Pandemic.
The reason for group travel is to bring people together, to boost morale, to have a company culture, according to Strebel. It's kind of dead for almost two years and it's like there's a thirst for getting people back together. In order to keep up with the soaring travel demand, Omni s chairman said that the company has several projects in the works to build or reimagine property experiences including two new hotels in Texas and Arizona, an Orlando location expansion and a massive restoration of one of America's oldest hotels in Virginia.
We didn't stop during COVID. Strebel said we still kept building and renovating our hotels. The oldest resort in America is The Homestead, located in Hot Springs, Virginia. We are actually spending $140 million redoing the hotel, restoring it to its original architecture and feel.