Last week

14.12.11 | Nicaragua

El incremento del número de turistas que ha visitado Nicaragua en el 2011, provocó un crecimiento de al menos un 20 por ciento en la...

20.10.11 | Nicaragua

Nicaragua has suffered serious bad press as a result of its troubled past and current President. Those unfortunate realities aside, this beautiful...

21.12.09

By using Facebook, you can now follow our daily activities and read interesting industry comments as well as enjoy our gallery of pictures and...

23.09.09 | Nicaragua

The final draft for the Rules and Regulations that will complete the new Coastal Law was finished today and presented to the Legislature for its...

22.07.09

Calvet & Associates weekly publication and more interesting information is now also available at WordPress !! We keep growing and expanding in our...

14.07.09 | Nicaragua

Projects in Central America and in Nicaragua will need to present returns above 25% to compete with less risk and equal or better yield...

13.07.09 | Nicaragua

It is right after lunch in Los Angeles, California on Tuesday, July 7th, and some of the key players in the hospitality industry have been summoned...

13.07.09 | Nicaragua

As Jeff Higley (Editor-in Chief of Hotel and Motel Management Magazine) said in his “Twitter” page on June 2, the IREFAC (Industry Real Estate...

13.07.09 | Nicaragua

One of the most prestigious tourism and hospitality research organizations in the U.S. is Smith Travel Research (STR). Through its division called...

13.07.09 | Nicaragua

It is refreshing to see good things happening even though we are all going through difficult times since the Sub-prime crisis. During the last two...

13.07.09 | Nicaragua

PRONicaragua is the official investment promotion agency in Nicaragua. The agency recently qualified as one of the best promotional agencies in the...

11.07.09

Our new Calvet Weekly News Edition is up! please go to www.calvetreport.com and read the updated world hotel outlook for 2009 to 22011

11.07.09

07.07.09

Today we attended the ALIS (American Lodging Investment Summit) Summer Update meeting held in Los Angeles, another successful conference organized...

06.07.09

We are presently visiting all the mayor hotels in Managua as well as a large number of small and medium hotels gathering information for our next...

30.06.09

Congratulations to our first clients in ITALY!! After two intense months, the complete Feasibility Study and the Concept Design for their...

22.06.09 | Nicaragua

On the morning of October 16, 2004, people in London were drinking their morning coffee and reading the newspaper, “The Guardian”, in which...

22.06.09 | Nicaragua

The most important element of the new Coastal Law is a very clear and explicit respect for private property which has been legally obtained. This...

22.06.09 | Nicaragua

The new Coastal Law specifically mandates that government institutions and municipal authorities should work together with developers, property...

22.06.09 | Honduras

For those truly interested in delving into the details of the new law, this article will discuss its most important elements: • The new setback is...

22.06.09 | Nicaragua

The approval of the Coastal Law immediately generated positive comments and reactions from the investment community. The Association of Investors...

26.05.09 | Nicaragua

In recent weeks, the Tourism Institute presented an initiative from President Daniel Ortega to the Legislature (the Nicaraguan version of the U.S....

25.05.09 | Nicaragua

The cost of borrowing in dollars between banks had its biggest two-day drop in more than four months amid confidence record low interest rates and...

25.05.09 | Nicaragua

Arriving a couple of days ago in Granada, “the colonial jewel of Nicaragua”, Joan Belden and Carol Kennicot of Denver, Colorado were excited to...

25.05.09 | Nicaragua

· The inflation rate was 0% during the first four months of 2009, and the International Reserves at the Central Bank remained level at $1,128...

25.05.09 | Costa Rica

The Central Bank of Costa Rica reported an increase in their International Reserves, reaching $4,085 million during the first 5 months of 2009,...

28.04.09 | Nicaragua

COPADES (Consultores para el Desarrollo Empresarial, S.A.), a think-tank directed by economist Nestor Avedaño whose group has more than 15 years’...

27.04.09 | Nicaragua

There is nothing more important in today’s business world than “information management”. Long gone are the days when it was valid to say that...

27.04.09 | Costa Rica

Costa Rica is fighting the current economic crisis by showing renewed confidence in their products in an effort to prepare for an economic...

27.04.09 | Nicaragua

January reported decreases in the industrial production, YTD -2.3%. Last year, the same month YTD presented an increase of 4.8%, as reported by the...

27.04.09 | Costa Rica

The Latin American Economic Commission (CEPAL) has forecasted a 0.5% economic growth for Costa Rica during 2009, compared to a 1.4% average for the...

27.04.09 | Nicaragua

Calvet & Associates® has changed its CalvetWeeklyNews® email distribution method after a glitch was discovered in the original software program....

21.04.09 | Nicaragua

Last weekend, with the sun at its highest point and the temperature at 104¢ªF, there was no mercy for Dr. Darwin Juarez, biologist and Calvet &...

21.04.09 | Nicaragua

It is true that Nicaragua is a country of contrasts, and its financial system is no exception. While in most countries the Central Banks are...

20.04.09 | Costa Rica

Texas A&M University is opening the new Soltis Research and Education Center at San Isidro de Peñas Blancas, about two hours from San Jose, close...

20.04.09 | Nicaragua

CABEI, the Central American Integration Bank, approved a $200 million dollar line of credit to the Nicaragua Central Bank. $100 million of these...

17.04.09 | Nicaragua

Calvet & Associates congratulates the projects Milagro del Mar (at Gran Pacifica) and Soma Resort (in Tola) for the recent approval of Law 306...

04.04.09

After 40 years of discussions, meetings, planning and more planning, the long-dreamed-about Coastal Road is still just that—a dream. The project,...

03.04.09

Eduardo Holmann, the hands-on former Mayor of San Juan del Sur, had lunch with us today (with the Association of Investors and Developers) and...

16.03.09 | Nicaragua

The Canadian Charter season from Montreal to Montelimar is finishing next Tuesday. I was there to congratulate our team for an excellent job done....

12.03.09 | Nicaragua

Standing on top of a high hill in Managua, Gerardo Caligari admired the newest addition to the hospitality industry in Managua, feeling proud but...

12.03.09 | Nicaragua

The Association of Investors and Developers has been growing in the number of its members and definitively in importance and influence in the...

08.03.09 | Nicaragua

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” How many times have we heard this line? It is more appropriate now than ever, as we never thought...

08.03.09

The Pacific Coast of Nicaragua has become a hot destination for real estate investors, developers, general tourists and surfers looking for the...

01.03.09 | Nicaragua

BHN, the Burba Hotel Network, and Jim Burba, its President and CEO, a very well known and respected figure of the Hospitality Industry is actively...

19.11.07

New Companies Interested in Energy Distribution in Nicaragua The minister of Energy and Mines has announced that five foreign companies are...

13.07.09 | Nicaragua

The Investment Outlook

As Jeff Higley (Editor-in Chief of Hotel and Motel Management Magazine) said in his “Twitter” page on June 2, the IREFAC (Industry Real Estate Financing Advisory Council) guys are the pulse of the industry. But, as he also noted, “…the IREFAC panel says the only way to get a phone call from your lender these days is to not make a payment.

The general opinion of the panelist of lenders who were present at The Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) coincided with the previous panel moderated by Raul F. Calvet during the CATHIE 2009 Conference: a gray cloud continues to hang over the hotel industry while even more so over the resort development business. Lenders today are favoring projects in urban hotels, especially in business destinations.

The overall consensus is that the industry will not return to “business as usual” as many were anticipating after the recovery process, but rather will arrive at a “new normal”--a condition which will be somewhat different than what we’ve experienced in the past. We anticipate seeing more traditional values on financial transactions as well as more of the old-style banking. Lenders and banking institutions will try to avoid raising values by leverage, one of the worst mistakes made during past years. Lenders participating on the ALIS panel also agreed with hoteliers’ opinions, stating that the year 2011 seems the most probable date for sustained recovery.

· Global Hotel Investment Volumes decreased in 2008 to one-fourth that of 2007, and in 2009, volumes have been even 22% less than 2008. Despite these volume numbers, new supply has not stopped increasing, as many construction contracts were already in place when the crisis started. However, very few new projects are confirmed, with the exception of such specific market locations as the Asia Pacific. In general, investment levels are down to those levels seen in 2002. Construction of new hotels is down 47%.
· Investment global environment shows a stronger trend to hold and/or buy existing properties than to build or sell. Most capital is waiting for distress investments.
· Yield requirements for lenders have to be above 18% and even 23% (IRR), and cap rates for the Americas is up to 10.4% from 8.6% in June 2008.
· The number one factor that will bring lenders into the market is capital availability.
· From the bankers’ perspective, hospitality real estate financing contracts have to be reserved today with higher percentages affecting bank net profits. This situation is favoring allocation of funds in other asset classes with better future outlook.
· Asset values in the hotel industry are down between 30% and 40% (back to 2003 levels). In today’s banking transactions, cash-flow (how much a property can afford to pay each month), is all-important, thereby jeopardizing the traditional 5-year exit threshold.
· Most 2008 loans will not be re-financed. However, it is possible that earlier loans could be re-financed, depending on the accumulated value remaining. Owners will have to absorb asset value losses.
· Probable scenarios for fast finance approvals in the U.S.: at least 35% equity, 5-year terms and 10% interest.
· Everybody agrees that after 2011, hotel industry financing will be a good business, but 2009 and 2010 will continue to present cash flow limitations and value losses.
· The good news is that medium financing packages will be easier to digest. Large projects above $100 million U.S. will have a difficult time syndicating banks.

Source for the Article Information BHN Burba Hotel Network