Hospitality and leisure

Investors in the casino gaming sector must interact with many organizations in both public and private sectors—from operators, analysts and commercial lending institutions, to the governing bodies and licensing agencies that regulate and monitor these operations. Those responsible for investments in casino operations require a variety of strategy and financial advisory services. Regulators must also have significant insight to make informed decisions. In existing casino markets, as well as those jurisdictions considering the introduction of casino gaming, decision makers face two equally compelling missions: monitoring and safeguarding enterprises that provide gaming tax revenues, and preserving the integrity of the casino gaming environment and the reputation of all parties involved. The financial discipline of our casino gaming professionals combined with the full-service resources of a PwC global network gives us the unique ability to gather relevant information, solve complex problems and ultimately assist our clients in making sound business decisions.

Often conceived to support economic growth and development, convention centers serve to provide a location for meetings, conventions, trade shows, public shows, the arts and local interests. Because their development and operations typically involve taxpayer investment, benefits are measured in terms of out-of-town visitors, occupied room nights, incremental taxes and sales. The success of a center is measured by its ability to generate economic benefit for the community. PwC specialists are recognized as leaders in the convention industry. PwC can advise on growing your business in relevant and innovative ways and navigating unpredictable market challenges by monitoring and benchmarking both the industry and its trends.

The cruise industry faces unprecedented challenges in today’s environment. PwC’s industry-specific expertise helps our clients manage change, navigate complexity and unlock value in turbulent times. Our Hospitality and Leisure specialists provide industry services to cruise companies, industry associations, governments, destinations, prospective investors and lenders. Our relationships with the major cruise line companies, combined with the experience of our specialists and the resources of our renowned Hospitality and Leisure practice, provide unparalleled services for our clients.

The market for marina facilities is increasing as a result of both consumer demand and the growing number of mixed-use resort projects that include marinas. The marina component of a mixed-use project establishes or enhances the image of the marketing and operational development and provides much of its appeal. Also, due to the capital-intensive nature of marinas, decisions regarding size, scale and support facilities are made early in the development process. To help our clients evaluate and implement solutions to these and other challenges, PwC Hospitality and Leisure specialists provide industry services to marina companies, marina builders, industry associations, governments, prospective investors and lenders.

Rapid growth, increased competition, shifting consumer trends and new travel restrictions make tourism a demanding industry to navigate. Changes represented by the emerging growth of competing destinations, funding accountability and security and travel concerns present constantly evolving challenges and opportunities for destinations and businesses serving the travel and tourism industries. The PwC Hospitality and Leisure practice includes specialists providing research and planning services to assist clients with the development, strategic planning and promotion of destinations and attractions serving the travel and tourism industries. We not only monitor the industries and their trends, but also help to shape them by advising you on innovative ways to grow your business.

The professionals at PwC are leaders in providing timeshare, fractional and whole ownership industry services, specializing in both research and market analysis and business plan development. A sector once dominated by private developers selling one-week fee intervals, vacation ownership now includes publicly-traded hospitality companies actively developing a full range of offerings at different price points in resort and urban destinations. Our resources can help you make profitable, educated decisions. We offer a global network of experienced vacation-ownership professionals and insights into the pace and absorption of second-home buyers in the vacation ownership market. We'll also keep you informed about the growing demographic base of potential buyers with increasing leisure time and income and help you assess where and when to enter the growing overseas vacation ownership market.

Due to their complexity, hospitality assets require a high degree of management and marketing expertise.

Regulations related to lodging REITs, unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) and other policies require that “arms-length” leases among ownership entities and their wholly-owned subsidiaries be structured based on revenue from operations and not operating income.

Knowledge, experience and efficiency. These three qualities are critical when a hospitality business is facing a legal dispute.

Monitoring hotels, conference centers, resorts and other hospitality and leisure businesses requires a particular base of knowledge and expertise that spans the arenas of management, marketing, payroll, energy, maintenance and capital.

Positioning of a hotel, resort, casino or other hospitality asset is uniquely complex among real estate property types.

Beyond competitive supply and area demand, numerous factors directly affect a hospitality asset’s cash flow.

Making sound decisions, preparing business and strategic plans, defining priorities, interpreting data, evaluating alternatives or preparing prospective estimates—all of these actions are critical and require thorough research using the best data and analytical tools.

The intricacies of the hospitality and leisure industry and the intensely complex nature of operations fuel the need for sophisticated analysis of the risks and rewards associated with potential investments.

As they are considered high-risk, high-reward investments, hospitality and leisure assets may be the most challenging type of property to assess.