Market Trends

🏨 Eight out of 10 guests consider short-term rentals over B&Bs or small hotels if prices are similar, found a PriceLabs study surveying over 1,000 travelers. Independent hotels face competition from short-term rentals at twice the rate of large chains. Guests considered both options on 30% of work-leisure trips. Booking.com users compared categories 45% of the time, versus 29% on direct bookings. In Mallorca and Barcelona, hotel and rental rates showed a 94% and 84% correlation, respectively, over 12 months.

📈 Camilla Woods, Services Director at Hospitality Action, discusses their Taking the Temperature survey. Managers are increasingly becoming 'accidental counsellors,' addressing team mental health. The episode explores why this trend is rising, how to identify early signs, and the steps leaders can take to implement actionable changes in the workplace. The focus is on practical measures to transform research insights into effective mental health support for employees.

💵 Pandox CEO Liia Nõu announced hotel sales in Denmark and Sweden on 22 October 2026. Five Danish hotels with 928 rooms are sold for 1,155 million DKK (€152 million) and two Swedish hotels with 320 rooms for 369 million SEK (€33.1 million), totaling around 2.1 billion SEK. The annual net operating income is 130 million SEK with a 6.2% yield. Transactions will complete by Q4 2026. Pandox retains three hotels in central Copenhagen.

📈 September's hospitality sales growth surged by 2.7% compared to September 2025, as reported by the NIQ RSM Hospitality Business Tracker. This marks the best sales month of 2026, with a notable increase from August's 0.8% growth. Britain's leading managed groups have enjoyed five consecutive months of positive growth, signaling a robust trend in the hospitality sector. The data, powered by CGA intelligence and in association with RSM, raises expectations for a strong year-end performance.

📈 Hotel Covington in Covington, Kentucky, enhances guest experiences with Canary Technologies, upgrading to F&B Mobile Ordering, AI Guest Messaging, and Dynamic Upsells. These changes streamline operations, boosting average order size by 15%. With 114 rooms and 53 suites, the hotel prioritizes texting for instant service, improving personal interactions. Canary Technologies, used by over 20,000 hotels globally, provides a unified platform for managing guest interactions, noted for increasing revenue and operational efficiency.

🌍 Data Appeal's study in Zaragoza reveals Spain's strategic focus on reducing tourism seasonality by enhancing shoulder and low seasons. Culture, family tourism, and wellbeing experiences are key drivers. Non-seasonal markets like Argentina, Poland, and Brazil grew 27.8%, 18.6%, and 13.1%, respectively. High-end accommodations attract 44.2% of Mediterranean coast tourists and 58.2% in Canary Islands. The Canary Islands lead with average stays of 6.6 nights, emphasizing culture and wellness tourism.

🏨 Al-Baha, Al-Ahsa, Jeddah, Asir, and the Eastern Province; over 3,000 hotel rooms will be added by 2030-2034. The HIE scheme reduces operating costs to attract private investment, involving companies like BSF Capital and Jenan. Saudi Arabia received 123 million tourists in 2025, with Red Sea Global limiting visitors to preserve ecosystems. By 2030, these projects will contribute 2.4 billion riyals annually to GDP and generate 5.3 billion riyals in local content. First project opens in 2026.

🏨 In 2024, CBRE analyzed 297 US hotels with self-operated spas, with revenues growing by 1.4% but profits declining by 0.5%. The Global Wellness Institute predicts the wellness economy will reach $9.8 trillion by 2029. Wellness real estate leads with a 23.6% annual growth since 2019. The average US medical spa generated $1.4 million in 2024. Therme Group and CVC announced a €1 billion joint venture in January 2026 for wellness destinations.

📈 September 2026, USA: HVS forecasts strong fall meeting and convention season, with ADR significantly exceeding expectations. September and October occupancy rates are near pre-pandemic levels (67%-69%), despite a supply increase since 2019. Occupancy still lags by about two points. ADR remains above pre-pandemic levels, with growth surpassing earlier gains, but expected to decline in November and December. Contracting out hotel departments is rising due to staffing challenges. A webinar on January 21, 2027, will discuss market trends.

💸 Oct 21, 2026. In Europe, OTAs held 29.9% of hotel bookings in 2025. Booking Holdings collected guest payments on 73% of bookings, up from 69% last year. Expedia's B2B segment grew 21%, reaching $10.7 billion. Expedia's market share in Europe rose to 16.6%, while Booking Holdings fell to 68.8%. In the US, Expedia surpassed Booking.com in booking volume for the first time since 2021. Expedia sold 111.5 million room nights, Booking Holdings 325 million.