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📈 Scottish hotels face a £63 million rise in annual business rates, totaling £295 million by 2026, up from £232 million in 2023. Rateable value increases averaged 27.3%. The Scottish Borders saw the highest rise at 45.7%, while Argyll and Bute experienced a 0.2% decline. Glasgow and Edinburgh rates rose by 41.9% and 38.9%. Appeals must be lodged by July 31, 2026. The revaluation reflects post-pandemic conditions, impacting operators with varying effects.

🏨 On July 1, 2026, Marriott launched day-use rooms at five London hotels: County Hall, Kensington, Maida Vale, Marble Arch, and Regent's Park. These rooms are available for afternoon stays without overnight accommodation. Booking.com and Expedia don't list these rooms, and AI assistants like ChatGPT can't finalize bookings. To reserve, guests use promo code ZDY on Marriott.com, pretending a next-day checkout. This direct booking approach ensures Marriott retains all revenue, bypassing third-party commissions.

😎 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity hosted discussions on the travel industry with Brian Sozzi from Yahoo Finance. Key topics included Marriott International's expansion into luxury wellness, the significance of food and beverage in travel, and the beta launch of Ask Bonvoy, an AI-powered search tool. This event took place in Cannes, highlighting emerging summer trends and innovations in travel experiences. #CannesLions2026

📊 The article highlights the impact of net contribution ranking on commercial strategies. OTA commissions range from 15% to 25%, while wholesale markups are 20% to 30%. Booking.com has high cancellation rates compared to brand.com voice. Loyalty bookings can sometimes contribute less than OTA bookings. Three actions for hotels include rebuilding rankings, mapping cost stacks, and reviewing bottom channels quarterly. The integration of various systems is crucial to determine net contribution per booking.

🏠 Visa launched the Visa Destinations platform on June 25, 2026, across ten cities, including Paris, London, Dubai, and New York. More than 150 card issuers promote it. The platform focuses on dining, culture, and shopping, with direct deals for the Louvre, Disneyland Paris, and Printemps. Hotels are accessed via the pre-existing Visa Luxury Hotel Collection. The platform moves hotel decisions to a secondary role, influencing how trips are planned and where cardholders spend.

🏠 Hosts on Airbnb pay 3% to 15% per booking for platform and traffic costs, while losing direct access to guest relationships. Airbnb retains customer data and potential future bookings. Direct bookings incur about 3% in credit card fees, but host retains guest information and saves on finder's fees for future stays. Airbnb, a publicly traded company, maintains shareholder interests, keeping fees stable or increasing. Direct bookings help hosts own their business and customer relationships.

📈 US hotels' labor costs hit $123 billion in 2024, marking a 20% rise from 2019. Labor at unionized hotels now consumes 43% of revenue compared to 33.5% at non-union hotels. Optimal hotel profitability is at 65-70% occupancy, not maximum. CPOR became crucial in 2025; labor costs per room rose between 2% and 11.2%. Hotels achieving profit focus on CPOR and GOPPAR metrics, aligning revenue with operational efficiency, rather than solely RevPAR.

📈 Serge Trigano discussed his 1997 ousting from Club Méditerranée and the launch of Mama Shelter. Kevin Machefert shared insights on his group's turnaround. Sylvie Bergeret shared MKG stats, while Jérôme Schibler and Hannah Davies provided on-ground perspectives. Gaëtan Bouvier talked about declining alcohol consumption among the youth. Food waste and water stress were highlighted as areas for improved efficiency. Adrien Lanotte emphasized AI's potential and its comparison to past disruptions in the sector.

For the past twenty years, hotel marketing has revolved around visibility. The goal was to appear on the first page of Google, rank highly on OTAs, build a strong review…

🏠 Wild Form Design Studio, based in New York, designed an interior for Love Thy Neighbor, a bar near The Stonewall Inn in West Village, celebrating the queer community. Opened just before New York's Pride celebrations, the bar honors the historical 1969 Gay Rights Movement protests. Founders Shigefumi Kabashima and Elias Popa emphasize "no straight lines" in the design. A Marsha P. Johnson quote is displayed on the floor, and a brick from the original Stonewall Inn is featured.