Market Trends

📅 Jason Himber, CEO of MINA Group, details his evolution from fast-food franchises to a fine dining empire. He shares leadership insights, the significance of being overprepared for success, overcoming challenges, and strategies to combat imposter syndrome, all while emphasizing the leveling playing field hospitality provides. Relevant to anyone in the hospitality industry seeking to enhance their business and leadership skills.

💰 Business travel poised to surpass 2019 levels by 6.2%, reaching $1.5 trillion in 2024, accelerating past projections, per WTTC report. In 2023, leisure travel almost rebounded to 2019 figures (-2.9%), while business travel lagged (-5.4%). The U.S. leads with a 30% share, expecting $472 billion (up 13.4% from 2019), followed by China at $211 billion (+13.1%). Germany's anticipated spend is $87.5 billion, marginally surpassing 2019, with the U.K. and France projected at $84.1 billion and $42.1 billion, respectively. The recovery is attributed to the significance of in-person interactions and the contribution of travel to global GDP, with a nod towards the mixed role of bleisure travel and the MICE industry's return to live events.

🏖 Hilton Cabana Miami Beach Resort in Florida completed a multi-million-dollar renovation featuring transformed public spaces, guestrooms, dining experience, and more. Celebrating a decade within the Hilton portfolio, the resort's renovation respects its 1951 origins. Updated amenities include a modern tropical aesthetic, reimagined lobby, fresh outdoor pool deck with new cabanas and daybeds, renovated 231 rooms and suites, and a revamped Allison Restaurant & Bar offering new menu items and signature cocktails.

🏨 IHG Hotels & Resorts signed four new Garner properties across the UK and Europe, expanding since Garner's launch in August 2023. In the first half of 2024, 76 properties were signed globally, with 58 in Europe, representing 41% of openings and 55% of signings. The UK will see the 53-room Garner Hotel Reading Centre and the 80-room Garner Hotel Preston Samlesbury open late 2024. In Germany, over 50 hotels will convert from NOVUM Hospitality brands, while Austria and the Netherlands will each welcome a new Garner property. Turkey's entry with a 126-room Istanbul hotel is set for 2025. In total, 79 Garner properties have been signed, including in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and Turkey, with four already operational.

🏦 Wyndham Hotels & Resorts partners with NILE Hospitality LLP for the expansion of the Microtel by Wyndham brand in India, targeting 40 new hotels by 2031. The collaboration marks Wyndham's eighth brand in the country and will focus on Tier II, III, and IV cities, with the first openings planned for 2025. Each hotel will have a minimum of 50 rooms. The company, which currently operates 60 hotels in India, aims to grow by 25% within the next 18 months. Wyndham franchisees can leverage nearly $325 million in technology investments and a Wyndham Rewards program with 110 million members.

🏷 TAPIS Studio unveils the NOMAD Collection, a line of rugs inspired by the Greek concept of 'aesthesis', designed to offer a multi-sensory experience. Creative Director Micael Carvalho emphasizes the collection's intent to reconnect individuals with nature through sensory engagement. Designs infuse cultural and natural scents like vetiver, fig, and patchouli into visual and tactile forms, incorporating new shapes and bold patterns suitable for various interior styles. The collection aims to bring the essence of remote cultures and nature's beauty into homes, elevating comfort through nature-inspired elements.

📖 Dezeen collaborates with SketchUp to start a Design Workshops video series featuring designers like Julien Sebban and Tola Ojuolape. Launching in two weeks, the series will showcase Sebban's Uchronia, a Paris-based practice, explaining the creation of a 70s-themed bar interior using SketchUp. Sebban won emerging interior designer at the Dezeen Awards last year. London-based Ojuolape, also an award nominee, will share a library design proposal for Clerkenwell, London. SketchUp, by Trimble, is widely used for various 3D design projects.

🏨 STAAH, a hospitality company, hosts a Weekly Hotel Industry Quiz designed for both seasoned hoteliers and those new to the industry. The quiz aims to sharpen knowledge and stay updated with industry trends. Participants can join weekly and engage with a variety of questions about luxury hotel brands and hotel software. The quiz also invites sharing among colleagues and promises new quizzes each week for continuous learning.

🌄 VRBO tops the holiday cottage sector in 2024, with Salience Search Marketing's report highlighting its 13,355 owned social score and 165,000 monthly brand searches. VRBO boasts 7.3 million social media followers. Hoseasons follows with 450,000 monthly searches and 350,000 Facebook followers. Sykes Cottages receives 246,000 searches monthly, Forest Holidays has 110,000, and Holiday Cottages gets 135,000. Center Parcs records 201,000 searches, while Holiday Lettings, Coolstays, and Sally's Cottage follow with 40,500, 18,100, and 6,600 searches, respectively. The sector's competition necessitates strong online presence for consumer recall.

🏨 Brittain Resorts & Hotels, launched in 1943 and based in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, partnered with Provident Hotels & Resorts to manage eight Florida properties, including The Mutiny Hotel in Miami. The firm currently operates 30 United States hotels with over 4,000 rooms, suites, and condos, and about 40 restaurants & bars. Their in-house call center makes over a million calls annually, driving an 80 percent direct contribution rate to its independent assets.