Category: Recent News

A highlight of the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals’ (HFTP®) upcoming Annual Convention is the session, “Navigating Challenges in 2025: How Hotel Owners and Management Companies Can Collaborate Successfully.” Speaking on the panel are top hoteliers John Murray, president and CEO for Sonesta International Hotels Corp. and Blair Wills, president and CEO for StepStone Hospitality. Scheduled for October 23, the conversation will be moderated by Robert Mandelbaum, research director for CBRE Hotels Research and a director on the HFTP Global Board. The Annual Convention is October 23–25 at The Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino.

By examining five key areas of hotel operations, this whitepaper serves as a comprehensive roadmap for hoteliers looking to thrive in a data-driven world. It highlights how leveraging data and technology can lead to more efficient processes, better decision-making, and improved profitability.

Minor Hotels announces the continued expansion of Tivoli Hotels & Resorts in Portugal, the brand’s home country, with the upcoming launch of Tivoli Kopke Porto Gaia Hotel. Located on the south bank of the Douro River, in the city of Gaia, the hotel is scheduled to open early in 2025 and boasts a privileged panoramic view over Porto.

Cendyn, a global hospitality cloud-based technology company, has acquired Knowland, the US-based leader in data-as-a-service intelligence on meetings and events for hospitality. The strategic acquisition presents an opportunity to enhance sales prospecting by yielding greater bookings in the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and events) space.

The Sustainable Hospitality Challenge (SHC), by Hotelschool The Hague, proudly announces the Winner of its 2024 edition, revealed during the grand finale at the Future Hospitality Summit World in Dubai. This year’s competition, which brought together 7 visionary student teams from across the globe, celebrated groundbreaking innovations set to reshape the future of hospitality. The 2024 edition saw an incredible level of competition, with a remarkable turnout from industry leaders eager to participate as jurors. Teams presented their innovative concepts to a distinguished panel of 19 current industry leaders, making this year’s challenge one of the most competitive and exciting to date.

CBRE forecasts U.S. RevPAR growing by 1.2% in 2024, down from its earlier expectation of 2.0% growth. Despite the reduced full-year expectations, RevPAR growth is expected to improve in H2 2024, increasing by 2.0% versus just 0.5% in H1 2024.

Scandic has signed a long-term, revenue-based lease agreement with property owner AXA Investment Managers to take over a 174-room hotel in central Stuttgart. The hotel will be renovated and adapted to Scandic’s brand and operational standards before the planned opening in the fourth quarter 2025.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced the completed acquisition of the brands and most of the affiliates of pioneering lifestyle hospitality company Standard International, parent company of The Standard and Bunkhouse Hotels brands. This acquisition enhances Hyatt’s leading position in the industry’s premier lifestyle segment, building on both Hyatt’s organic growth and a series of acquisitions that quintupled the number of lifestyle rooms in Hyatt’s global portfolio between 2017 and 2023.

As the hospitality sector particularly in Europe seeks to enhance its social impact and reach the SDGs, there are valuable lessons to be learned from the gastronomic industry worldwide. Particularly, hotels can develop innovative business models that benefit their operations and contribute positively to their communities by working on product sourcing, collaborations, and measuring impact.

Red Roof®, an award-winning leader in the lodging industry, unveiled a blueprint for continued profitable growth at its brand conference for more than 1,000 franchisees, team members and partners. Red Roof President Zack Gharib laid out a concrete path forward to elevate one of America’s best-known lodging brands. In his address to the Red Roof franchise community, Gharib told conference attendees, We are an iconic American brand, and we are living the American dream.