The impact of COVID-19 on hotel transaction prices ::evidence from Europe

This study examines the impact of COVID-19 on hotel transaction prices. The European hotel investment market is chosen as a test bed, since European countries and their hotel sectors have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. The hedonic regression methodology is used to analyze a sample of 1,334 hotel transactions across 26 European countries between 2007 and 2020. To allow for the reliable estimation of year-over-year changes in hotel transaction price levels, 14 control variables are used that capture a hotel’s location, building quality, size and operational attributes. The resulting transaction price index reveals an 11% drop in 2020 transaction price levels compared to the prior year, which is significantly less compared to the 30% drop during the 2009 global financial crisis. Additional analyses demonstrate varying price impacts of COVID-19 by region and hotel type