Market Trends

🍹 The Paloma, a mixed drink from Mexico, combines tequila, grapefruit soda, and lime juice, and is gaining popularity in the U.S. with a 57% increase on restaurant menus over four years, now found on 7.7% of menus. Market research by Datassential shows 27% of the U.S. population recognizes the Paloma, especially among Hispanic consumers. Restaurants are customizing the cocktail by adding spices or syrups. Click to explore the Paloma's presence in a New York City restaurant menu.

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality since 1999, oversees food and beverage trends reporting. Host of "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" podcast, he wrote for The New York Sun (2005-2008), reported in Thailand for Manager magazine and Asia Times (1992-1997), and covered the 1989 Tiananmen Square events for ABC News. His column won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal Award, he's a Phi Beta Kappa Tufts graduate (1990), studied at Le Cordon Bleu (1986), and was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier (2014). Contact: [email protected]

🌺 St Michaels Resort in Falmouth sponsors the Oyster Festival for 20+ years. 2024's festival is canceled due to costs, but St Michaels will host an autumn event, celebrating oysters and community. Features include live music, chef demonstrations by Jude Kereama and others, gourmet street-food, oyster shucking competition, and local crafts. Free entry until 6pm, then £2 for charity. Acts include Will Keating, Soul Sensations, Culdrose Military Wives Choir, and Oggymen. Nigel Carpenter confirms festival's return on 9-12 October 2025. St Michaels also sponsors Falmouth International Arts and Book Festivals in October.

🏦 India, October 1st, 2024: RateGain Travel Technologies Ltd., featured in a case study at NYU School of Professional Studies, showcases its evolution as a global technology leader, influencing travel and hospitality industries with AI and machine learning. Authored by Dr. Vanja Bogicevic, the study highlights RateGain’s innovative solutions for customer acquisition, retention, and market expansion. Founder Bhanu Chopra acknowledges the honor, emphasizing the importance of global brand synergy and addressing industry challenges. RateGain, established in 2004 in India, now serves 3,200+ customers across 100+ countries.

🏠 In 2024, dubbed the "Year of the Great Recharge," Hilton's Trends Report, after surveying 13,000 travelers across 13 countries and gathering insights from 4,100 team members, reveals a desire for vacations that combine relaxation with adventure. 70% of travelers enjoy being active, with 20% planning outdoor adventures for 2025. 58% revisit childhood destinations with their kids, and 63% want digital room keys. 24% practice digital detox, and solo travelers, 64% of whom value a good book, are surging. Foodie exploration is growing, with 50% booking restaurant reservations before flights, and one in four reduces alcohol intake, reflecting the Tempo Drinking trend. Finally, Hilton's sport sales revenue tripled from 2019 to 2024, 80% from youth or amateur sports.

🛏 Futons and daybeds enhance relaxation in various residential interiors, doubling as space-savers and design elements. The Longhouse in Victoria, Australia features a cypress pine daybed by Partners Hill, while North Bank UK's barn-like house includes a sheepskin-draped futon by Elliot Architects. In Montauk, New York, Home Studios redesigned Daunt's Albatross with a linen-curtained daybed. London's Florin Court houses a multifunctional daybed by Intervention Architecture, and Atelier Dialect's Apartment A in Antwerp, Belgium boasts a black leather De Sede DS-80. The Catskill's Mount Tobias holiday home by ISDR Architecture and the Nova Residence in North Carolina, with its iconic Mies van der Rohe Barcelona daybed by Harding Huebner, showcase custom designs. Lastly, Waldo Works' Television Centre Penthouse in London offers retro-corridor daybeds amidst plant-filled shelving.

🚿 The latest Dezeen lookbook highlights shower curtains as a decorative element in bathrooms. Featured examples include Nelson Terrace in London with neutral-toned curtains (Paolo Cossu Architects), a Berlin Mitte apartment with all-white finishes (Atheorem), Ember Locke in west London with striped curtains (Atelier Ochre and House of Dré), Minimal Fantasy apartment in Madrid with an iridescent pink curtain (Patricia Bustos Studio), Canyon House in London with muted purple curtains (Studio Hagen Hall), House in Cunha, Brazil with copper piping and curtains (Arquipélago Arquitetos), and Mo-tel House in London with bright yellow accents (Office S&M). These designs showcase material variety and visual impact.

🏨 Tely Nagle, owner of The Drake Oak Brook, relaunched a historic Chicago hotel into a Condé Nast award-winner. Purchased in 2013, the hotel required extensive renovations to restore its glory. Nagle's personal involvement and partnership with Marriott's Autograph Collection elevated the guest experience. The hotel's new restaurant, COA, celebrates Mexican heritage. Key figures include Gino DiRenzo, original manager since 1961, and First Hospitality Group, the management company hired. 📆 Sept. 28, 2024.

🏨 In San Francisco, hotel workers are striking due to management's perceived lack of responsiveness, reduction in work hours while increasing workload expectations, and insufficient wages amid rising living costs. Despite hotels making profits even during lockdowns, workers argue the current pay is unsustainable in the high-cost city, and accuse hotels of greed for not increasing their pay despite the financial ability to do so. The situation has led to understaffing and employees being forced to handle multiple roles.

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation's Restaurant News since 1999 and Restaurant Hospitality since 2016, won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award. Host of "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" podcast, he covered New York City's restaurant scene for The New York Sun from 2005 to 2008. A magna cum laude Tufts University graduate and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, he also studied at Le Cordon Bleu and in China. Bret was inducted into the Disciples d'Escoffier in 2014.