Why Brand USA Can’t Market the NFL
Destinations can capitalize on hosting a Super Bowl, World Cup, or Olympics — but DMOs are often constrained to marketing around the event, not through it.
‘The Traveler Comes to Us’: Uber CEO Explains Break-Even Bet on Hotels
Uber wants to be more than just a rideshare company. Speaking at the Skift Global Forum, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company is expanding into hotels and short-term rental bookings.
HB on the Scene: My Place Hotels relaunches Trend by My Place
Conversion brand has three tiers Read More The post HB on the Scene: My Place Hotels relaunches Trend by My Place appeared first on hotelbusiness.com.
Ambassador Buys Oceania Sirena; Semester at Sea to Charter Ship in Winter
Ambassador Cruise Line is entering the German market with the former Oceania Sirena. The UK company said in a statement it acquired the ship from Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
Royal Caribbean Looks to Acquire Sandals Resorts in $6 Billion Deal
Royal Caribbean Group is close to acquiring a majority stake in all-inclusive resort operator Sandals Resorts International in a transaction valuing the company at north of $6 billion, the Financial Times reported, ci…
The Ritz-Carlton Residences Planned for 2029 in Brooklyn Heights
The Ritz-Carlton has announced plans to open branded residences in Brooklyn Heights by 2029, marking a significant entry into the New York City residential market and reflecting increased hotel brand investment in lux…
Treehouse Hotel Manchester Adds Rooftop Dining and Suites
Treehouse Hotel Manchester has expanded its property with the addition of rooftop dining venues and new suites, aiming to enhance guest experience and capture increased demand for upscale amenities in the Manchester h…
MGallery Signs Ink 48 Hotel in Manhattan
MGallery Collection has signed Ink 48 in Manhattan, which will undergo renovations before joining the collection in 2028 under Rebel Hotel Company management.
Angel of the Winds Selects The Agilysys Technology Ecosystem to Increase Bookings and Streamline Guest Processes, Including Check-in
Angel of the Winds Casino Resort in Arlington, WA deployed Agilysys PMS, booking, and POS solutions, reporting reduced check-in queues, faster F&B service, and increased booking activity.
FIFA Lodging Results: Houston Hotels Found More Rate Than Room Nights – By Bunmi Oyinloye
Houston is no stranger to major sporting events, having hosted Super Bowls, Final Fours, and College Football Playoff games. FIFA 2026 added another chapter, drawing an estimated 500,000 out-of-town visitors to Housto…
Tamarind Resort In Barbados Reopens as Autograph Collection All-Inclusive Resort
Tamarind, Barbados, an Autograph Collection All-Inclusive Resort, has reopened after a redesign that completes a two-year, multi-million-dollar renovation and brand conversion program across the seven-resort Barbados…
@HOME by Best Western Opens in McDonough, Georgi
Best Western has opened an @HOME by Best Western property in McDonough, Georgia, marking the brand's continued push into the extended-stay segment in smaller U.S. markets.
AI Designed with Intention – Europe’s AI Strategy Shifts Toward Specialist Models and Data Control
Europe’s AI opportunity may depend less on building the largest models and more on deploying specialist systems that use proprietary data, meet governance requirements and fit specific business workloads.
That Creator Video Went Viral, the Booking Came Later: How Brands Measure Impact
The path from online inspiration to booking isn’t linear. Travel brands say measurement is all about "incrementality."
SCC Opens HarbourFront Terminal, Unveils Passenger Technology
Singapore Cruise Centre (SCC) has opened the new Singapore Cruise Centre (HarbourFront) terminal, following a 24-month development and testing period. The opening marks the completion of SCC’s transition to a purpos…
Chief Economists Expect Global Economy to Stabilize, but Fiscal Constraints, Rising Living Costs and AI Investment Uncertainty Threaten Growth
Chief economists project stabilization in the global economy, but caution that fiscal constraints, higher living costs, and unclear impacts of AI investment may limit growth prospects for the hospitality sector.
How Travel Brands Learned to Stop Worrying and Trust Creators
Travel brands are letting go of the curated campaigns and heavily produced videos in favor of giving more creative control to creators.
Hilton Offers New Home2 Suites By Hilton Clean Energy Prototype Designed to Provide Higher Energy Efficiency, Lower Utility Costs and a More Sustainable Stay for Guests
Hilton has introduced a new clean energy prototype for its Home2 Suites by Hilton brand, aiming to deliver higher energy efficiency, reduced utility expenses, and enhanced sustainability for both property owners and g…
AI-Powered Hotel Operating Company Launches With $7.5 Million in Seed Funding
A new AI-powered hotel operating company has launched with $7.5 million in seed funding, signaling increased investment in technology-driven approaches to hotel management and operations.
Virdee Expands Its Integration With Salto
AUSTIN, Texas—Virdee announced an expanded integration with Salto that enables participating hotels to offer room keys in mobile wallets. The integration connects Virdee’s digital check-in and guest experience pla…
Value-add and conversion strategies in UK hospitality
Reading Time: 2 minutesUK: Discussions at the Annual Hospitality Conference explored how investors and lenders are pivoting towards value-add developments, office conversions, and "hotelised" residential asset classes…
U.S. Economic Outlook September 2026 – U.S. Economy Poised to Remain Resilient Despite Consumer Pressures
The September 2026 U.S. Economic Outlook from the National Restaurant Association projects continued economic resilience despite ongoing consumer pressures, suggesting hospitality businesses can expect steady demand w…
What Is RevPAR? Revenue Per Available Room Explained – By Abigail Ward
Abigail Ward explains that RevPAR, or revenue per available room, is a widely used hotel industry metric that measures a property's ability to generate revenue from its available inventory, helping owners and operator…
Business Travel Confidence Rebounds to Its Highest Level of 2026 As Industry Plans for Disciplined Growth
Improving expectations for trip spending, volume and revenue signal renewed momentum, while rising costs and geopolitical uncertainty continue to weigh on travel decisions, according to a new GBTA industry poll
Six Preventive Steps to Help Protect the Guest Experience From Pests
For hotel owners and operators, pest prevention is closely tied to the guest experience. In the age of social media and online reviews, a single pest sighting can negatively impact trust in the property and raise sani…
HVS Europe Hotel Transactions Bulletin Week Ending 18 September 2026
HVS reports on key hotel sales and investment activity across Europe for the week ending 18 September 2026
Baymont By Wyndham Odessa, TX Sold
Paxmi and Madhav, based in Portland, Oregon, purchased the 72-key Baymont by Wyndham Odessa from Odessa Hospitality, LLC.
Margaritaville at Sea Names Zac Brown Godfather of Beachcomber
Margaritaville at Sea Cruise Line has announced that artist Zac Brown will serve as the Godfather of the Margaritaville at Sea Beachcomber. Brown will officially christen the Beachcomber in Miami on January 9, 2027, a…
Static Vs Dynamic Pricing: What’s the Best Pricing Strategy? – By Daniel Foreman
Daniel Foreman examines the operational and financial implications for hotels of choosing between static and dynamic pricing models, emphasizing how each approach affects revenue optimization, competitiveness, and ada…
Before investing in AI platforms, hotels should first identify which operational workflows are worth improving, as most have an application problem, not a technology gap.
Before investing in AI platforms, hotels should first identify which operational workflows are worth improving, as most have an application problem, not a technology gap.
Hotel Executives Cite Taxes, Labor Costs and Consumer Spending Pressures Across Europe
Hotel executives operating in the United Kingdom and Europe said rising labor expenses, tax changes, reduced consumer spending and technology risks are increasing pressure on hotel operations. Industry leaders at the…
Beyond the Brick: Why the Asset-Light Paradigm Shift is the New Baseline for 2026
The author argues that asset-light franchising and management contracts have permanently replaced real estate ownership as the dominant growth model, citing Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott expansions as proof.
The Best Time to Build a Lender Relationship is Before You Need One – By Andrew Carey
Andrew Carey argues that hotel owners and developers should establish strong lender relationships before seeking financing, as early engagement can improve access to capital, streamline loan processes, and help naviga…
Sponsored Listings Are Spreading Across Online Travel — Just as AI Agents Threaten to Ignore Them
Sponsored listings could be significantly disrupted — or they will evolve to account for AI agents.
Complaints Are Not a Service Metric: They Are an Asset-Governance Signal – By Dr. Tong Yin
Dr. Tong Yin argues that guest complaints should be viewed not merely as service metrics but as critical signals of asset governance problems, urging hotel owners and operators to address root causes to protect long-t…
OneJourney Advances to WiT Singapore Following Wildcard Win at the Global Startup Pitch Competition
OneJourney's SwiftPay platform, which automates hotel accounts payable via virtual commercial cards and cashback, will pitch at WiT Singapore after winning the Wildcard at Phocuswright Europe's Global Startup Pitch.
An Open Letter to Hon. Dita Angara-Mathay, Secretary, Department of Tourism, Philippines – By Terence Ronson
Terence Ronson has addressed an open letter to Philippine Department of Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay, urging consideration of industry perspectives in tourism policy decisions that impact hotel businesses and…
Marcus & Millichap Brokers Sale of Fairfield Inn & Suites in Warsaw, Indiana
WARSAW, Indiana—Marcus & Millichap announced the sale of a 92-room Fairfield Inn & Suites in Warsaw, Indiana. “The transaction was a smooth process from start to finish, driven by strong communication and cooperat…
Sloan Dean Launches the First AI-Native Hotel Management Company, Booking Says Distribution Isn’t Zero-Sum, Replace Headcount with HPOR
Tuesday brought former Remington CEO Sloan Dean launching AIHG with 60-plus autonomous agents targeting 500+ basis points of GOP improvement, Booking.com arguing Hotrec data supports a balanced multi-channel model rat…
Hotel Distribution Is Not a Zero-Sum Game
Hotrec data shows 56% of European hotel bookings in 2025 are direct, with no single OTA exceeding 20% share, supporting a balanced multi-channel model through 2030.
Stonebridge adds dual-branded property in midtown Atlanta
Combined Courtyard by Marriott and Element hotels Read More The post Stonebridge adds dual-branded property in midtown Atlanta appeared first on hotelbusiness.com.
SCA Gives UC Davis Coffee Center $1 Million for Research Fellowship
The Specialty Coffee Association is giving $1 million to the University of California, Davis, to establish an ongoing fellowship for graduate-level coffee research. The new Specialty Coffee Association Endowed Fellows…
Hunt Sports Development Plans Mixed-Use District at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, TX
Hunt Sports Development has announced plans to create a mixed-use district at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a project expected to introduce new hospitality, retail, and entertainment offerings that could increase h…
Stop Managing Labor by Headcount: Why HPOR Should Lead the Conversation
H1 2026 data shows Full Service hotels cut HPOR by 3.1% and Select Service by 3.5%, even as occupancy rose to 67.9% and RevPAR grew 8.9%, making HPOR a sharper labor efficiency tool than headcount.
Execs at new AI Hospitality Group give inside look at ‘first AI-native operating company’
The CEO, COO and CTO behind the new venture share why its artificial intelligence-enabled model is the future of hotel operations.
Why hotel recovery isn’t waiting on rate cuts
Demand, rather than monetary policy, is driving hotel performance, and hotel cap rates reflect this reality, writes a real estate investment firm co-founder.
Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team Races Home for Grand Prix
Explora Journeys just celebrated the homecoming of the Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team in Geneva this past weekend, as the high-speed sailing championship returned to Lake Geneva for the Rolex Switzerland Sail Gran…
Holland America Unveils New Beach Club at Half Moon Cay
Holland America Line has completed a series of enhancements to RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay, its private island in the Bahamas, ahead of the destination’s 30th anniversary in 2027. Guests can experience the newly refres…
Alex and Burt Cabañas, Kirk Jones launch Astound Ventures
Company focused on driving net unit margin Read More The post Alex and Burt Cabañas, Kirk Jones launch Astound Ventures appeared first on hotelbusiness.com.
Scenic Group Announces Long-Term Expansion in India
Scenic Group has announced its strategic partnership with Assam Bengal Navigation (ABN), marking its expansion into the Brahmaputra River. Following the partnership, the company’s India portfolio will expand with tw…
Astound Ventures Launches, Laser Focused on Driving Net Unit Margin – ‘NUM’
Astound Ventures has launched with a stated focus on driving net unit margin (NUM), signaling a shift toward profitability-centered performance measures in hospitality investment and operations.
Sentta unveils Autumn 2026 design forecast
Sentta has identified the key trends set to shape the design landscape throughout Autumn 2026. Unified by a theme of […] The post Sentta unveils Autumn 2026 design forecast appeared first on Sleeper.
Variety Coffee Roasters Consistently Delivers with 10th New York Location
New York City’s Variety Coffee Roasters has reached the 10-shop milestone with a recent opening in Greenpoint, adding to existing locations across Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. Opened in June at...
Key Cruise Ship Drydocks in September
From routine work to major refurbishments, Cruise Industry News looks into key drydock projects taking place between late August and September. Cordelia Sky Cruise Line: Cordelia Cruises Capacity: 2,000 guests Tonnage…
Strengthening the Guest Experience: How Bespoke Hotels is Using Canary Across its UK Portfolio
Bespoke Hotels deployed Canary across its 57-property UK portfolio to unify reporting, capture OTA guest data, automate messaging, and drive upsell revenue, recovering costs within weeks at each property.
Vancouver Cruise Calls Hit Record 141 Visits Through June
The Port of Vancouver’s Canada Place is on pace for its busiest cruise season ever, with a record 141 cruise ship calls, up 8 percent, and 560,000 passenger visits, up 11 percent, between February and the end of Jun…
NCLH, NHL, Peter Worrell and Force Blue Lead Virginia Key Cleanup
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) has announced that, in celebration of International Coastal Cleanup Day, it led a volunteer event dedicated to protecting South Florida’s marine environment. The company had tea…
InCruises: Creating Value Above and Beyond What is Elsewhere
InCruises, which always thought of itself as bigger than just a travel membership club, began with the ocean cruise segment as a primary focus, and initial relationships ran through a wholesale supplier. It later pivo…
Simple Booking Opens the Hotel Back Office to AI Agents
Simple Booking's Back Office MCP lets hotel teams query reservation, demand, and payment data in plain language via AI assistants like Claude and ChatGPT, completing an agentic layer for commercial operations.
The revenue-profit gap: what boutique hotels should budget for in 2027
Reading Time: 4 minutes[Sponsored] Duetto explores four questions hoteliers can use to strengthen budgets, assess technology investment, and make more informed profitability decisions. The post The revenue-profit gap:…
AHEAD Europe 2026 shortlist announced
The finalists for AHEAD Europe 2026 have been announced, with the region’s leading hospitality projects now in the running for […] The post AHEAD Europe 2026 shortlist announced appeared first on Sleeper.
Travel measures success by what happens after money gets allocated: arrivals, bookings, room nights, load factors, traveler spending.
Travel measures success by what happens after money gets allocated: arrivals, bookings, room nights, load factors, traveler spending. We’ve built a framework around every decision that leads to those outcomes, count…
A year ago, we asked what Skift would look like if we started it today.
A year ago, we asked what Skift would look like if we started it today. This is the answer: Skift Intelligence, and a company rebuilt around the decisions travel’s leaders have to make.
Former Remington CEO launches AI Hospitality Group
Reading Time: 2 minutesUS: Sloan Dean, the former CEO of Remington Hospitality, has launched an AI-native hotel operating company called AI Hospitality Group. The post Former Remington CEO launches AI Hospitality Grou…
Customer Service Week and CX Day 2026
Customer Service Week runs Oct 5-9, 2026, with CX Day on Oct 6, offering operators a timely reminder to recognize frontline staff through simple, low-cost gestures year-round.
COMO Uma Ubud Bali Enhances Guest-Centric Dining with Shiji Infrasys POS
COMO Uma Ubud Bali has deployed Shiji's Infrasys cloud-based POS to centralize F&B operations, improve order accuracy, and free staff to focus on personalized guest service.
IHG Hotels & Resorts named Official Hotel Partner of Men’s Rugby World Cup 2027
IHG becomes Official Hotel Partner of Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia, leveraging its 160M+ member loyalty program and existing rugby relationships to drive accommodation demand and brand awareness.
SiteMinder unveils Dynamic Commerce Engine to close the ‘execution gap’ in hotel distribution
SiteMinder's new AI-powered engine goes beyond pricing recommendations to detect and fix distribution-layer issues, such as broken channel connections and unmapped room types, across its 56,000-property platform.
Suan Dusit Arun marks a year of positive urban impact, recording more than 951,000 visitors while helping to create a cooler, greener Bangkok
Suan Dusit Arun, Bangkok's largest public rooftop park atop Dusit Central Park, attracted over 951,000 visitors in its first year while recording measurable cooling, air quality, and stormwater benefits.
Why Year-End Reconciliation Starts in October: A Procurement Framework for Q4 Capital Projects
Hotels that begin procurement reconciliation in October gain negotiating leverage, line-item cost visibility, and more time for competitive bidding before Q4 vendor capacity tightens.
Royalton Hotels & Resorts Returns to Full Strength in Jamaica with Five Resorts Open
Royalton Hotels & Resorts has reopened all five Jamaica properties across Negril and Montego Bay after significant renovations, with a sixth adults-only resort set to debut in summer 2027.
HotelMinder Launches the Tech Index, Shifting from Popularity-Based, Hotelier Tech Ratings to an Expert-Led Evaluation Model
HotelMinder replaces popularity-based hotel tech ratings with an expert-led model combining consultant reviews, hotelier feedback, and AI signals, plus segment-specific awards for 2027.
Why to Design an Unforgettable Arrival Sequence
Three design principles for developers to turn arrival sequences into value-generating experiences: choreographed circulation, spatial hierarchy and thresholds, and staged anticipation.
Rosewood Foundation Brings Rise to the Table to London
Rosewood Foundation's Rise to the Table residency returns in London, March 7-13, 2027, offering emerging female hospitality talent leadership coaching, peer networking, and a year-long mentorship with a senior Rosewoo…
Frasers Hospitality unveils Fraser Suites Reserve, a new luxury serviced living brand
Frasers Hospitality launches Fraser Suites Reserve, a luxury serviced living brand debuting with a 255-room Bangkok property at One Bangkok tower, opening December 2026.
LHS Leading Hospitality Solutions Acquires Majority Stake in Viato and Strengthens Brandnamic Unlimited’s Marketing-Tech Division
LHS acquires a majority stake in Freiburg-based Viato, a channel manager and booking engine provider serving ~2,000 hotels in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, to strengthen Brandnamic Unlimited's Marketing-Tech port…
The Evolution of Hotel Management Agreements: Adapting to a Value-Focused Market in the Middle East and Africa
HVS survey of 1,313 hotels (305,500 keys) across MEA finds owners shifting toward franchise and performance-aligned structures, with 63.6% of respondents expecting more franchise agreements in the next three years.
A Brief Look at Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation(PPWR) and Hospitality
The EU's PPWR (Regulation 2025/40) takes effect from August 2026, requiring hotels to eliminate PFAS in food-contact packaging and prepare for broader recyclability and reuse mandates from 2030.