Dive Brief:

• Nashville-based Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. entered a definitive agreement to acquire the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa in San Antonio from Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. for $800 million. 
• Expected to close by Q3, the acquisition includes the entire 640-acre JW Marriott Hill Country property, featuring 1,002 rooms, indoor and outdoor meeting and event space, two PGA-approved golf courses, a spa and eight food and beverage outlets. 
• The acquisition comes as group business travel demand is trending up in the U.S. With the acquisition, Ryman said it will integrate “one of the top large group meetings destinations in Texas” into its hospitality portfolio.

Dive Insight:

Located in an “attractive and growing market with no emerging competitive supply,” the JW Marriott Hill Country property offers Ryman “significant opportunities to serve the group and leisure sides of [its] business,” President and CEO Mark Fioravanti said in a statement. 

Demand for the property’s group travel accommodations has been strong in the last year, according to a Ryman investment summary report obtained by Hotel Dive. In 2022, the property saw 57% of room nights from group travelers and 43% from leisure transient travelers. 

The resort offers 268,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including two ballrooms, 18 breakout rooms and an exhibit hall. In its report, Ryman detailed long-term plans to further expand the property’s meeting spaces. 

The property has the space to accommodate heightened business travel demand in San Antonio. The city’s tourism bureau expects business and leisure travel demand to increase following the U.S. Travel Association’s IPW international trade show last month. Leading up to the trade show, the organization estimated the event would generate roughly $614 million in international visitor spending for San Antonio over three years and drive 395,000 additional international visitors to the city. 

Conferences, conventions and trade shows drove business travel nationwide to start the year. Some 78% of business traveler respondents to a U.S. Travel Association Survey conducted in September said they expected to take at least one such trip by April of this year. 

Increased business travel in the first quarter of this year was reflected in occupancy and revenue gains at urban properties, including several owned by Pebblebrook Hotel Trust. The investment trust reported strong Q1 earnings at properties in San Francisco, Portland, Chicago and Washington, D.C., citing improving business demand, both group and transient. 

And while professional services company PwC forecasts that shifting macroeconomic conditions may contribute to “softening” leisure travel for the remainder of the year, individual and group business demand are expected to remain strong.