TOP NEWS

🌎 Phocuswright is conducting a quarterly online survey throughout 2025 of U.S. adults with internet access engaged in leisure travel. This research provides insights into American travelers' evolving preferences, behaviors, and attitudes. The current quarter focuses on payments, in-destination spending, and transportation preferences by age group. Phocuswright's Open Access subscription offers company-wide access to their extensive library of expert analysis and data tools to help spot trends and make informed decisions.

🚗 U.S. Car Rental Market Brief 2025 by Phocuswright provides an in-depth analysis, sizing, and projections of the U.S. travel market and its five key segments: airline, hotel & lodging, car rental, cruise, and packaged travel. Part of the U.S. Travel Market Report 2025 series, it includes publications like U.S. Airline Market Essentials 2025, and U.S. Travel Market Data Sheet 2023-2027. Designed for unlimited team access, it delivers vital insights for industry leadership.

💸 Dutch and Belgian consumer groups filed lawsuits against Booking.com on June 27, 2025, accusing it of anti-competitive practices since 2013 in Europe. These practices include misleading users with "dark patterns" and fixing prices, now banned in the EU. Booking.com previously faced a €530M fine from Spain and a €413M antitrust penalty. Hotels reportedly overpaid billions in commissions. Hotel associations from 25+ European countries join the legal fight, seeking pricing autonomy and damages.

💸 Las Vegas, April 2025: Hotels set room rates 45 days in advance, only to drop them sharply by the day of the stay, showcasing "reverse yielding." Average booking window is 45 days for transient guests. Factors like competitive pressure, forecasting mistrust, event hype (e.g., Las Vegas F1), and leadership misalignment drive this trend. Solutions include empowering revenue leaders and trusting reliable RMS. These strategies promote proactive, not reactive, revenue management.

🍴 Martin Williams, CEO of Evolv Collection, collaborates with Freak Scene for a pop-up residency at 100 Wardour Street, Soho from July to November. This partnership, starting July 22, marks Williams' strategic move to modernize and diversify the brand. Scott Hallsworth, known for his pan-Asian cuisine, brings his culinary expertise back to Soho, blending Japanese izakaya culture with Australian influences. The partnership aims to broaden the company's demographic appeal and innovate its offerings.

🏨 In 2024, OYO acquired Motel 6 for $525 million, and Wyndham modernized Super 8, propelling motels as tech leaders. By 2031, the motel software market is projected to grow from $374 million in 2020 to $959 million, with a 9.44% CAGR. Motels excel with digital upgrades, offering features like smart TVs and contactless check-in, aiming to match boutique hotel experiences. They utilize analytics for dynamic pricing and resource optimization, enhancing both efficiency and guest satisfaction.

📈 CEOs, CMOs, and CFOs must align to reignite growth. Fortune 100 executive teams grew by 50% from 2020-2022, but single customer-focused executives see 2.3x more growth than fragmented roles. Marketing budgets fell to 7.7% of revenue, down from 9.1%. Only 66% of Fortune 500 companies have CMOs, marking a drop since 2023. To drive growth, companies should empower CMOs as strategic leaders and enhance marketing-CFO collaboration for effective measurement systems.

📚 Palladium Hotel Group, a family-run company, operates 40+ hotels across 8 destinations, recently expanding into the UAE. They prioritize guest experience, integrating it into operations for innovation and swift adaptation. Utilizing semantic analysis, they turn feedback into actionable insights. Personalized guest journey maps are co-created with local teams. Technology supports but doesn't replace the human touch. The focus is on turning guests into loyal fans, valuing internal teams, and maintaining a data-driven, human-centric approach.

📈 Sally Bunnell, founder and CEO of NaviSavi, speaks at the TravelTech Show 2025 in London. She joins a panel about the future of travel tech, moderated by Charlotte Lamp Davies. The event includes over 100 tech suppliers and features discussions on AI, geopolitics, and sustainability. NaviSavi, recognized for innovation, won awards at events in Lisbon and Seville. Bunnell, a 2020 PhocusWright Young Industry Leader, spoke at 20+ events globally this year.