Editor's Note: Some linked articles may be behind subscription paywalls.
1. US imposes tariffs on more than 80 countries
The Trump administration is levying tariffs that range from 10% to 12.5% on goods from more than 80 countries effective Friday, the New York Times reports.
The new tariffs exempt oil, gas, certain national resources and goods already covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
"The duties were issued under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose tariffs on foreign countries that engage in unreasonable or discriminatory trade practices. The administration has cited the failure of foreign countries to pass or enforce laws banning the importation of goods made by forced labor into their own countries, saying that disadvantages U.S. businesses that do follow such laws," the news outlet reports.
2. Accor signs definitive sale agreement of its Essendi stake
Accor signed the definitive sale agreement for its 30.7% stake in Essendi, Business Immo's Benoît Léger reports. Its stake will be handed over to a consortium formed by Blackstone and Colony IM for an amount of up to €975 million ($1.1 billion), including €675 million to be received on closing of the transaction and an earn-out of up to €300 million.
The agreement provides for the “gradual conversion of Essendi’s portfolio to hotels under franchise agreements, in line with the group’s strategy to simplify and further strengthen the robustness and predictability of its business model," according to a news release.
3. New York City hotels enjoy tailgate tourism boost
High ticket prices and surging interest in sporting events such as the NBA Finals and the 2026 FIFA World Cup have paved the way for New York City to capture "tailgate tourism" demand this summer, CoStar News Hotels reports.
Tailgate tourism is when fans travel to a city where a sporting event is occurring to watch a game but not actually attend. Peter Yeung, managing director of the Walker Hotels Collection, which includes the Walker Hotel Greenwich Village and the Walker Tribeca Hotel, in New York City, has seen an uptick in fans traveling to the city for these sporting events — not necessarily to attend the game, but to just be around other fans cheering on their team.
"You want to be around people that have that same interest," Yeung said. "Being a Knicks fan, I want to be around a bunch of people that are Knicks fans so you can share the feeling with human beings and with your fellow Knicks fans."
4. European Commission fines Google over preferential search
The European Commission fined Google €890 million for providing preferential treatment to its own services, including hotels and shopping, over third parties in search, CNBC reports.
Google is currently mulling an appeal. Kent Walker, president of global affairs at Google and Alphabet, said the European Union's Digital Markets Act will ruin search functions for users.
“This implementation of the DMA continues to break everyday products. To comply, we are having to strip away real-time search features Europeans love — like instant pricing and direct availability for hotels, flights and restaurants — and dismantle safety protections on Google Play,” Walker said in a statement.
5. World Cup, Middle East to drive earnings discussion for travel firms
In the upcoming second-quarter earnings season, U.S. hotel operators and online travel platforms will likely provide some optimism from World Cup performance and some pessimism from the war in Iran, Reuters reports.
Bookit CEO Lin Dai said any lift in hotel earnings in the quarter from the World Cup is "a three-week event, not a trend line."
"The focus is the underlying growth trend going forward, excluding World Cup," said Baird analyst Michael Bellisario.