Rising Wildfire Risk Pushes Up Hotel Insurance Costs

Hotels and resorts are facing sharply higher insurance costs as wildfires become more frequent and spread beyond traditionally high-risk locations. Hospitality operators have reported average property-insurance increases of between 17% and 26%, while some high-risk assets have faced rises of more than 50%. Smoke, embers and poor air quality can affect hotels even when they are located far from active fires, reducing occupancy and disrupting operations. Properties are responding through vegetation management, fire-resistant materials, emergency planning and automated sprinkler technology. Insurers are increasingly assessing the resilience of individual buildings rather than calculating risk only by geographical location.