Category: Recent News

Tripadvisor, the world’s largest travel guidance platform, today released its annual Winter Travel Index revealing robust winter travel demand, with 60% of travelers planning trips and 45% indicating they’re traveling more this winter than last year. The comprehensive report shows a diverse mix of cold urban destinations and warm-weather escapes leading winter travel preferences.

The Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC) has named the GBTA Foundation, the cause-related arm of GBTA, a distinguished recipient of its 2025 Leadership Award in the Public Interest Advocate category. This recognition celebrates the Foundation’s dedication and success in generating positive outcomes through its pioneering sustainable procurement tools and standards.

We’ve heard this promise before. The Internet was supposed to decentralize travel. Then came social media, metasearch, and the so-called “sharing economy.” Each new wave arrived with the same story: this time, hotels will finally connect directly with their guests again.

Leonardo Hotels, the European division of the Israeli owner-operator Fattal Hotel Group, has acquired three UK properties in separate single-asset transactions: the four-star, 270-room Leonardo Hotel Southampton, the four-star, 170-room Leonardo Hotel Exeter, and the four-star, 94-room Leonardo Hotel Chester. All three properties are situated in central locations and include a restaurant and bar. Leonardo had already been operating the hotels under FRI leases, and the Chester acquisition also includes three commercial units that are let to third-party tenants.

Maestro PMS has recently enhanced its Online Gift Card module, giving independent hotels, luxury resorts, and multi-property groups new tools to grow guest loyalty, increase brand visibility, and drive repeat bookings throughout the year. With consumer demand for personalized digital gifting at an all-time high, this upgraded module empowers hoteliers to use gift cards as more than a point-of-sale transaction. Now, they serve as powerful tools for marketing, engagement, and revenue growth.

Last week, we took a quick look at the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) and why it matters for hotels advancing environmental performance and responsible operations. This week, GCSTIMES is diving deeper into how we help hoteliers demonstrate alignment with GSTC.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Benchmarking the representation of women and Black leaders in the hotel industry, the Penn State School of Hospitality Management has released the 2025 Representation in Hotel Leadership research report.

Hotel groups worldwide are increasingly turning to a new performance lever: workflow automation. Not as a future bet, but as a proven driver of efficiency, accuracy, and financial impact. More exactly, we are talking about hyperautomation, which is a hotel-specific blend of AI-powered digital workers that replaces repetitive tasks, improves data accuracy, and frees up human teams to focus on service, not spreadsheets.

The Data Appeal Company announced the launch of a new feature that turns large volumes of travel signals into clear insights, scenario analyses, and actionable recommendations and outputs through a contextual intelligence interface.Built specifically for Destination Management Organizations (DMOs), tourism boards, and travel authorities, this revolutionary tool addresses one of the sector’s most significant challenges: while tourism demand and data have grown exponentially, many destinations still lack the capabilities and resources to keep up.Unlike generic AI solutions, this system is built on a trusted, curated and continuously updated knowledge base, sourced from hundreds of integrated datasets within The Data Appeal and Mabrian’s shared data space.

Moderator: Jon Peck, President of Peck Hotel Consulting, and Cayuga Hospitality Consultant