Categorizing…

This cio.com article argues that by 2026, B2B buyers have become more skeptical and discerning about AI, shifting their focus from flashy capabilities to transparency, governance, and trust. Buyers now expect vendors to clearly explain how AI systems work, what data they use, how privacy and security are protected, and what safeguards are in place. Because many vendors are unprepared to answer these questions, trust is eroding and deals are slowing. The author contends that CIOs must lead a cross-functional effort to close this AI information gap by aligning product, sales, marketing, legal, compliance, and support around a consistent, truthful, and transparent AI narrative that helps customers evaluate risk and build confidence. 3 key takeaways: AI trust matters more than AI hype. Buyers are no longer impressed by buzzwords alone; they want proof, clarity, and accountability. Transparency is now a sales advantage. Vendors that openly explain their models, data practices, and guardrails are more likely to earn trust and win deals. CIOs need to lead the response. They are best positioned to coordinate company-wide AI messaging, documentation, and governance so every customer-facing team can answer tough questions consistently.

The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) today mourns the passing of Kirk Kinsell, former CEO of Loews Hotels & Co. and President of the Americas for IHG Hotels & Resorts. A respected industry leader, Kinsell was also a dedicated champion of AHLA and the AHLA Foundation. Kirk brought an unmistakable presence to AHLA and the AHLA Foundation and an even bigger heart. He was a friend and trusted advisor, always eager to share an insight, an anecdote, or a lesson about our industry. Kirk loved the hotel business passionately. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with him closely years ago on several AHLA and AHLA Foundation initiatives and saw firsthand his commitment to supporting young people preparing for careers in hotels. I will miss his guidance and his big, hearty laugh, and love of life, but I’m so grateful for the legacy he left us all AHLA President & CEO Rosanna Maietta I had the pleasure of first meeting Kirk in his role as President of Loews Hotels during my time with American Express, and it was immediately clear that he was both an exceptional business leader and someone committed to giving back to the industry. I reconnected with Kirk when I joined AHLA and was thrilled to work closely with him and Peggy Berg to merge the Castell Project with AHLA, building an even stronger FORWARD initiative. Whether leading one of the largest hotels brands in the world, raising funds to propel the mission of the AHLA Foundation, or leaning in to advance the representation of women in industry leadership roles, Kirk made a lasting impact. At the AHLA Foundation, we are committed to carrying on Kirks's legacy of creating opportunity and access to advance the people of the industry Kevin Carey, AHLA Foundation President & CEO and AHLA Chief Operating Officer of AHLA At points in his career, Kinsell served in leadership roles on the AHLA Board of Directors and the AHLA Foundation Board of Trustees. His leadership and contributions to both organizations and to the hospitality industry at large will be felt for decades to come.

The message from this year’s International Hotel Investment Forum was of an industry of two parts. On one side a resilient, fast-growing leisure segment driven by affluent consumers. On the other, a more uncertain landscape of urban and corporate demand, increasingly exposed to geopolitical shifts and changing travel patterns. Leisure assets, particularly resorts and destination properties, are now at the centre of capital allocation strategies. The logic is straightforward: wealthier travellers are travelling more frequently and proving less sensitive to macroeconomic volatility, which is being reflected in average daily rates at luxury properties continuing to outperform. Yet the enthusiasm is not without caveats. Seasonality remains an inherent risk, while certain urban markets are showing signs of softening, particularly this reliant on Middle Eastern demand. Even standout performers such as Italy carry a degree of fragility, given their reliance on US travellers. If leisure is the demand story, scale is the capital story. Across private equity and institutional investors, the shift away from single-asset deals toward platform strategies is now well established. Large investors are seeking aggregation: portfolios, branded collections and operating platforms that offer both efficiencies and clearer exit routes. Geographically, capital is converging on a familiar map. Southern Europe has emerged as the industry’s core investment focus. The appeal is both practical and structural: strong leisure fundamentals, global brand recognition and a depth of repositioning opportunities. Portugal in particular, has gained prominence as a market combining growth potential with relative accessibility. France remains desirable but difficult to penetrate, while Eastern Europe continues to represent a strong secondary market. Rising construction costs and increasingly complex repositioning requirements are forcing investors to reassess underwriting assumptions. Deals are still being done, but with greater scrutiny on the true cost of transformation. In this environment, renovation is favoured over ground-up development, offering a more controlled path to value creation. This pressure is also exposing a structural weakness: the industry’s limited supply of independent, high-quality asset management. Investors, lenders and advisors alike point to a gap between ownership objectives and operational execution, particularly in the luxury segment, where performance differentials can be significant. At the same time, the traditional boundaries of the hotel model are shifting. Brand strategies are fragmenting, with operators expanding into softer, more flexible concepts and investors showing increased willingness to adopt white-label approaches. Boutique and ultra-luxury positioning continues to gain ground, often at the expense of standardised mid-market offerings. Parallel to this, branded residential has moved from peripheral feature to central pillar. By integrating residences into developments, investors can unlock upfront capital, reduce project risk and extend brand reach beyond the hotel stay. The model is no longer experimental; it is becoming standard practice. Even so, not all sources of capital are moving in lockstep. Middle Eastern investment remains significant but is showing signs of caution. Geopolitical tensions are beginning to affect both development timelines and outbound travel flows, with knock-on effects for European markets that had come to rely on this demand. Leisure demand is reshaping performance expectations. Platform

This article was written by Mauricio Prieto. Click here to read the original article The world is more interesting than the headlines suggest, and the people who see that don’t…

INVESTMENT ACTIVITY The CEE hotel investment market demonstrated significant growth in 2025, with investment volumes increasing by 170% year-on-year. This growth was primarily driven by heightened activity in the Czech Republic, followed by Hungary. Most hotel transactions in the region involved Upper Upscale assets, followed by Upscale properties. The positive momentum is expected to continue into 2026, with several deals already completed and others in various stages of the disposition process. PRIME YIELDS Throughout 2025, prime yields in the Prague, Budapest and Bucharest hotel markets experienced some compression. The hotel market of the rest of the CEE-6 capitals (Warsaw, Bratislava, Sofia) remained relatively stable, although prime assets in top-tier locations benefitted from some yield tightening. Factors such as stabilising inflation, improved access to financing, and increased capital inflows suggest the potential for further yield compression as we transition into 2026. SUPPLY In H2 2025, 8 hotels and serviced apartments with 761 rooms opened across the CEE-6 capitals. These include branded properties such as the Movenpick Budapest, as well as the addition of 101 newly renovated rooms at the Radisson Blu Hotel Bucharest. Openings reflected a strong focus on the Upper Upscale and Upscale segments. In 2025, room supply in the region increased by 2.7% year-on-year, primarily due to developments in Warsaw (+5.5%), Budapest (+2.8%), and Prague (+2.2%). This trend is expected to continue in 2026, with Warsaw leading the way. PERFORMANCE The region recorded an 8.9% year‑on‑year increase in RevPAR in 2025, supported by a 4.6% uplift in ADR and a 2.7pp. rise in occupancy. The growth was particularly notable in Bulgaria and Romania, both achieving double‑digit RevPAR gains. At the city level, Bucharest (12.0%), Warsaw (9.1%) and Prague (8.3%) posted the strongest RevPAR growth in 2025, while Prague and Budapest ranked as the highest‑performing markets in terms of nominal RevPAR.

This article was written by Lodging Magazine. Click here to read the original article WASHINGTON, D.C.—The American Hotel & Lodging Association issued a statement in which it mourned the passing…

OVERVIEW The sample of over two thousand European hotels in the HotStats database recorded a moderate increase in profit during the 12-month period ending in December 2025. The GOP per available room (GOP PAR) rose by 2.1% YoY, reaching €69.3, supported by total revenue growth of €6.1 (+3.3%), despite operating expenses also increasing by €4.7 (+3.9%). Rooms department performance improved as RevPAR grew by €4.2 (+3.1%) to €139.7, driven by a 2.0% rise in occupancy to 72.9% and a 1.1% increase in ADR to €191.6. F&B revenue grew by €1.7 (+3.8%), reaching €45.6 PAR. Total expenses increased by €4.7 PAR (+3.9% YoY), primarily led by Payroll at €60.5 PAR (+5.7%) and supported by Other Expenses at €43.3 POR (+1.9%). All months in 2025 recorded higher occupancy levels compared to 2024. The most significant gains were in winter months, led by January and February (+3.1%) and followed by December (+2.9%). Overall, the nominal growth in total revenues exceeded the increase in expenses, resulting in a GOP flow through of 23.5%. Nominal GOP reached €69.3 in 2025, representing a 35.7% margin (-0.4pp). In Q4 2025 the selected hotels achieved a GOP of €67.6 PAR (+€4.6 YoY), driven by €9.5 increase in total revenues. This was partially offset by €4.9 growth of total expenses with payroll costs showing the largest increase among expense lines, rising to €61.2 PAR (+€3.1). London leads the GOP levels reaching €155 PAR during the period, followed by Paris (€141) and Edinburgh (€128). Meanwhile, Milan and Warsaw leads in terms of GOP PAR growth (+8.6% and +7.7%, respectively), ahead of Lisbon (+3.4%) and Prague (+3.1%). The highest profitability was achieved in London (46.8%), followed by Prague (45.5%), Edinburgh (45.4%), Lisbon (45.3%) and Barcelona (43.6%). HOTEL SUPPLY IN 2025 & OUTLOOK 2026 Strong performance growth in recent years, combined with rising interest from real estate investors, has helped revive hotel development activity across Europe despite elevated construction costs. Nevertheless, the pipeline remains relatively modest across most key European markets, with many developments still several years from completion. Recent data indicate that although more hotels are in the pipeline, around half of the rooms expected to open over the next two years remain in the planning stage, with many projects delayed or on hold. In major cities, hotel supply growth is expected to remain steady but moderate, rising from around 2% in 2025 to 3% in 2026. In 2025, Brussels led the supply growth (+6.1%), followed by Lisbon and Warsaw (+3.2%). On the other hand, two of the selected markets, namely Amsterdam and Barcelona grew less than 1% in 2025. The cities that will see the highest growth in supply by the end of 2026 are Lisbon, Budapest and Dublin. Meanwhile, space and cost limitations will put pressure on supply growth for cities like Paris, Amsterdam and Prague. Luxury hotels continue to lead the way and are expected to record the strongest growth in 2026 (+4.5%). This trend is likely to support ADR growth on the long term and drive leisure

This article was written by Lodging Magazine. Click here to read the original article Photo Credit: Renaissance Dallas North Hotel DALLAS, Texas—JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group announced it has arranged financing from Western Alliance Bank for the Renaissance Dallas North Hotel, a 337-room full-service…

This article was written by Hospitality Design. Click here to read the original article Africa’s tallest towers spark debate over growth and identity, New Museum reopens bigger and more connected…