Promoting female speakers at events. To further showcase the diversity of voices at hospitality industry conferences worldwide, the Women in Hospitality Leadership Alliance has launched an interactive speaker directory featuring over 700 senior women with expertise in all areas of the hospitality industry. According to the Penn State School of Hospitality Management’s Women in Hospitality 2023 research report, women occupied only 24% of podium spots and 37% of main stage speaker spots at hotel investment conferences. However, women make up 58% of the hospitality industry workforce.
Boutiques exceed expectations. According to Highland Group data, boutique hotels overall increased across all performance indicators through June 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Each boutique segment – lifestyle, soft brand collection and independent – contributed to a combined 5% increase in revenue. Increases in demand are seen across all classes, from upper mid-range to luxury. The lifestyle segment saw the largest increases in supply, occupancy, demand and revenue. The upper mid-range soft brand class saw some of the strongest average price increases. Independent boutiques saw the largest increase in RevPAR.
New graduate under the Hilton flag. The first Graduate by Hilton hotel to open since Hilton acquired the brand from AJ Capital, The Graduate Princeton in New Jersey is the conversion of a historic 1918 college dormitory into a 180-room boutique hotel, doubling the total number of hotel rooms in the city. Located on historic Nassau Street in the heart of downtown, directly across from the Princeton University campus, it is the first new hotel in Princeton in nearly 90 years—and only the second hotel in the historic downtown area.
Aviation data from China. The number of passenger flights in China could reach 700 million this year, according to the country’s Civil Aviation Administration. In the first half of this year, the number of passenger trips rose 9% from the same period in 2019. Last year, the total number of trips was 619.6 million. During the eight-day Lunar New Year holiday earlier this year, tourism revenue in China rose 47.4% year-on-year, driven by a domestic travel boom that surpassed pre-pandemic levels. International travel from China recently received a boost from the Paris Olympics, as well as demand for flights to and from Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Europe, according to the CAA.
New gateway to the Galapagos Islands. Art Hotels Ecuador will open the luxurious 20-room Rio Guayas hotel in Guayaquil, Ecuador (a city that serves as the gateway to the Galapagos Islands) in late 2024. The hotel will be located in the historic Las Peñas neighborhood, on the traditional Numa Pompilio Llona street, the oldest neighborhood in Guayaquil with over 400 years of history. Art Hotels Ecuador, which opened its first hotel in 2018, is an Ecuadorian collection of historic luxury boutique hotels, including hotels in Quito, Otavalo and Cuenca, with future locations in Guayaquil and the Galapagos Islands to be added.
Great July in Berlin. Driven by three key events, Berlin’s hotel industry recorded its highest ADR and RevPAR levels in July, according to CoStar data. Occupancy in July was 77.9% (-0.1% YOY); ADR was EUR 136.94 (+17.3%) and RevPAR EUR 106.73 (+17.2%). The UEFA European Football Championship final between Spain and England on July 14 pushed the market’s ADR to EUR 353.56 (+171.4% YOY) and RevPAR to EUR 308.77 (+189.2% YOY). The highest daily occupancy in Berlin was recorded on Saturday, July 27 (88.8%) – the night of Christopher Street Day. The second highest occupancy (88.6%) was recorded on both the second and third nights of Berlin Fashion Week (July 2-3). Overall, the market’s occupancy remained above the 70% mark on all days except five.
IHCL is growing in Rajasthan. Indian Hotels Co. Ltd. (IHCL) has signed a greenfield deal for 200 resorts in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan for its resort brand Gateway. The developers are Jalan Builders, Jalan Hospitality, V2RS Group and Jatsons. With this hotel, IHCL now has 30 hotels in Rajasthan, of which nine are under development.
