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1. Loyalty program revolt builds against Marriott
Fifty-one owners, who together own almost 1,000 hotels operated by Marriott International, have joined together to demand Marriott share more of its credit card partnership revenue linked to the hotel firm’s Bonvoy loyalty program, the Wall Street Journal reports. The credit-card program is predicted to earn Marriott nearly $1 billion in revenue in 2026, up from the $716 million it received from this avenue in 2025.
“Hotel owners are absorbing an increasing share of the program’s costs while Marriott captures an increasing share of its revenue,” the letter addressed to Marriott President and CEO Tony Capuano and Chairman David Marriott said.
By the end of the first-quarter of 2026, Marriott's Bonvoy program had 283 million members worldwide.
2. New chair Kevin Warsh to assume Federal Reserve duties
The new chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve Kevin Warsh assumes his duties and attends his first meetings this week, Investopedia reports. The Federal Open Market Committee will meet today and tomorrow to discuss the federal funds rate with the expectation members will vote to keep U.S. interest rates steady.
Warsh came into the office with the possibility of the Fed lowering interest rates as inflation was declining and a less-robust job market. However, inflation has jumped in the following months due to higher energy prices caused by the war with Iran.
3. Indian non-travel businesses shift focus to hotel investment
The rise of the hotel industry and travel among the middle class in India is gaining attention from companies that do not consider hotels as their core businesses. Indian hotels are being financed by alternative investment backers, according to CoStar News Hotels’ contributor Chitra Balasubramaniam.
“There is a clear demand-supply mismatch in the hotel industry,” said Gaurav Sharma, managing director of hotels in India and senior director of hotels, capital markets for Asia at JLL. “As India’s economic activity keeps growing and expanding, businesses are generating healthy cash flow from their core operations, and they are looking for places to invest it. … These are not casual investors. They are plugged into what is happening at the macro level, and they can see the opportunity.”
4. Japan raises interest rates to 31-year high
Japan’s central bank has raised interest rates from 0.75% to 1%, which is its highest rate in 31 years, according to Reuters. The Bank of Japan also indicated future rate increases to come to contend with the risk of further inflation.
"With underlying inflation approaching 2%, we need to be mindful of upward price risks. We will guide policy so that we won't fall behind the curve," Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida said in a news conference.
5. UK bans some social media for teens
Next spring, the United Kingdom will ban users 16 and younger from some social media sites, including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube, NBC News reports.
Gaming sites will be included, too, and the government said in a news release that it “will also go further than a blanket ban on social media with world-leading blocks on harmful functions such as livestreaming and stranger communication with children for under-16s.”
The new legislation might affect how companies, including the hotel and hospitality industry, market to families.