Market Trends

🏖 Pierre & Vacances expanded in Catalonia, now with 15 properties, by adding Hotel Port Salins in Empuriabrava (41 rooms, 400 meters from the beach) and Hotel Pirineos Figueres (56 rooms, 3 apartments, near Dalí Museum) to its portfolio. Port Salins was previously run by Trinfico and is the third property in Empuriabrava for the group. Pirineos Figueres was owner-managed before the lease by 3 Capital Real Estate. The company targets tourist hotspots in Spain, including Costa Brava, Costa Blanca, Balearic Islands, Costa del Sol, and Canary Islands.

🏨 Hospitality brands are shifting from net unit growth (NUG) to net revenue growth (NRG) due to economic pressures, consumer behavior changes, and regulatory challenges. Factors like high borrowing costs, persistent inflation, labor shortages, COVID-19's lingering impact, and a generational travel shift towards authentic experiences have made revenue maximization crucial. Strategies for NRG include advanced revenue management, direct bookings, upselling, operational efficiency, and diversifying revenue streams. Sustainability and tech integrations also play key roles in building brand loyalty and reducing costs.

🍸 🍸 Noelle Nashville reopened the Hidden Bar, a Prohibition-era speakeasy, at the end of February, coinciding with the opening of a new restaurant, Lona, by Chef Richard Sandoval. Located in downtown Nashville, the bar's entrance is on historic Printer's Alley. The redesign comes with a focus on classic and inventive cocktails, like the Bee’s Knees and the glitter-topped Storage Closet. Regular events include Trade Secrets, Red Light series, and Inner Light, offering activities such as tarot readings and aura photography.

🏖️ In 2023, Barcelona witnessed 15.6 million tourists, with an additional 10.3 million visiting its region, totaling nearly 26 million visitors. The tourism spike is attributed to large events, strategic developments, and infrastructure improvements. Seasonal trends affect the hospitality sector, with summer months seeing peak hotel stays.

🏨 Saudi Arabia plans to add 362,000 hotel rooms by 2030 with a $110 billion investment aligning with its 'Vision 2030'. Tourism's 2023 GDP contribution was SAR 444.3 billion (11.5% of the economy). International arrivals hit 30 million in 2024, targeting 70 million by 2030. Upcoming events include the 2029 Asian Winter Games, World Expo 2030, and FIFA World Cup 2034. Hotel revenue reached $5.6 billion (Jan-Oct 2024), a 3.5% annual increase. Riyadh and Medina hotel markets showed significant occupancy and rate growth.

🌳 La Donaira in Andalusia, Spain—a boutique eco-retreat set on a 1,700-acre biodynamic farm with orchards, vineyards, oaks, and olive groves—offers guests rustic-luxury suites, Andalusian horse riding, and farm-fresh organic meals. This curated collection of favorite treehouses and tree-inspired stays ranges from traditional to innovative and domestic to wild, based on personal passion and extensive collecting.

🏩 Eva Klausner, Director of Guest Experience at Numa, discusses the future of guest experience in a podcast episode released on March 15, 2025. Hosted by Danica Smith, founder of MorningStar GX, the episode features insights into enhancing the hospitality sector. The podcast encourages listeners to share the episode with their team to translate ideas into actionable benefits for their business and clientele. Music for the show is by Clay Bassford of Bespoke Sound.

📌 Sloan Dean, President and CEO of Remington Hospitality, chose the hotel industry over a career at Home Depot. After a rapid ascent, including roles in revenue management, M&A, and development, he became CEO of Remington in late 2019, just before its acquisition by Ashford Inc. in January 2018. Under his leadership, Remington advocates a 10-20% annual growth rate, manages over 140 hotels across 26 brands, and is a top-five franchise operator for Hilton and Marriott in North America. The company focuses on full-service and lifestyle hotels primarily in Florida, Georgia, and Texas. Dean is expanding into the Caribbean and Latin America, with 14 hotels in development and expectations to exceed 20 by next year. Despite challenges like doubled insurance costs since 2019 and a 50% rise in labor expenses, Dean forecasts a 1.5-2.5% revenue growth domestically, with higher gains in sunshine states (3-6%) and lower performance in cities like San Francisco, Chicago, and Minneapolis.

🏡 Único Hotels plans to open a 24-room luxury boutique hotel in Viavélez, Asturias by 2028, transforming the 16,000 m² Palacio Jardón, built between 1914 and 1917. Led by architect Joaquín Noval, the development prioritizes heritage and environmental sustainability, featuring an outdoor spa, a multipurpose crystal invernadero, sports and leisure areas, gardens, an eco-vegetable patch, a photovoltaic system, and a water recycling program. The hotel is part of Único Hotels' expansion, which includes six Spanish hotels and growth into Argentina.

🏨 Brand storytelling in hospitality often confuses a hotel’s unique origin and values, known as "brand story," with guest-centric "storytelling," which focuses on crafting experiences for guests to create their own narratives. Clarification between these concepts is crucial for hoteliers aiming to curate memorable guest experiences that contribute to individual life stories, rather than merely promoting the hotel's own narrative.