Market Trends

🏨 CIVILIAN Hotel in New York City’s Theater District upgraded guest services with Canary Technologies to reduce lobby congestion and replace unreliable systems. The 203-room hotel now offers two self-service kiosks alongside mobile check-in. Most guests submit details before arrival; roughly half of those who don’t choose a kiosk. Digital payment authorizations take under five minutes, replacing scanning and faxing, while guest messaging reduces calls and enables hotel-wide updates.

💻 The brand continues to innovate digitally as it works to become a serious competitor in the booming catering market.

🍽 Atelier Zébulon Perron designed Bistrot à Franky for chef Francis Blais in Montreal’s Mile End, Canada. Inspired by Japanese metabolism and 1980s postmodernism, the restaurant combines white and beige finishes, aluminium accents and a zinc bar. Lambert & Fils created custom Pyrex-tube chandeliers, while filmmaker Xavier Dolan curated the art. Only the original terrazzo floor remains from the previous interior. The neutral palette lets food and artwork take centre stage.

🌍 65% of travellers find a secluded destination less appealing once it becomes popular online.

🎶 Jeff Hoogendijk, Khalil Ryahi and Paul Cournet opened Echo, Rotterdam’s first listening bar, in early September inside Groot Handelsgebouw, opposite Rotterdam Centraal. Inspired by Tokyo listening bars, the Cloud-designed venue features a shipping-crate bar, Sabine Marcelis mirrors and two speaker towers. It operates as a daytime coffee shop and nighttime bar, hosting exhibitions, listening sessions for 20–40 people and seated dinners for up to 40 guests.

🏨 Lodging Econometrics reports Latin America’s hotel construction pipeline reached 783 projects and 114,148 rooms in Q3 2026, up 4% year-over-year by project count. Early planning surged 29% to 300 projects, while 288 projects were under construction. Mexico led with 229 projects, followed by Brazil’s 145 and the Dominican Republic’s 88. Renovations and conversions hit a record 189 projects. Forecast openings total 90 hotels in 2026, rising to 115 in 2027.

🏨 The global hotel group credited its U.S. performance for driving growth this quarter. No specific growth figures, dates or company name were provided.

🏖 Club Med’s 2026 Art of Free Time Report surveyed 2,000 adults aged 21+ across the U.S. and Canada through Wakefield Research, September 11–23, 2026. Findings reveal a “Joy Gap”: 87% say obligations sometimes override enjoyment, while 80% cite costs as barriers to trying activities. Yet 88% reported benefits from trying something new, 79% expect to try a new vacation activity, and 91% define travel luxury as freedom rather than pampering.