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1. US economy contracted in first quarter
The U.S. economy contracted by 0.3% during the first quarter, falling below economists' expectations for 0.4% growth, the Wall Street Journal reports. It's the steepest decline since the first quarter of 2022.
However, the details behind the drop temper the results somewhat.
“The headline decline overstates weakness because a lot of that was tariff-induced pull-forward,” said Shannon Grein, an economist at Wells Fargo. “Overall, I think that it was a relatively solid underlying report when it comes to demand.”
Paired with the news of the economic contraction, U.S. consumer confidence dropped for the fifth month in a row, reaching the lowest level since the start of the pandemic, the Associated Press reports.
“Rattled consumers spend less than confident consumers,” Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, told the AP in an email. “If confidence sags and consumers retrench, growth will go down.”
2. Travel to US holds up despite economic woes
Despite the recent announcements of U.S. tariffs and immigration policies, a report from The New York Times found that travel into the country is holding up for now.
The report, using entry data collected from every international airport, did find international arrivals dropped more than 10% year over year in March, but that was mostly due to Easter falling in April this year.
One exception is travel from Canada, where citizens are choosing to avoid the U.S. in light of statements and policy from President Donald Trump. The New York Times reported a 21% decline in summer ticket sales compared to last year.
3. Major Chinese markets see signs of hotel demand pickup
Hotels in the in China that have seen negative year-over-year demand recently can expect that to level out, Jesper Palmqvist, STR's senior director of Asia-Pacific, said on the latest episode of the Hotel News Now podcast.
The markets affected — Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen — are seeing positive momentum in regard to hotel demand, with the potential for more growth in the second half of the year.
"It'll take a bit of time. This is one of those quarters where we look, 'OK, in the next couple of months, let's see if we can turn a number of those engine markets and start driving it up generally,'" Palmqvist said. "I think this is more for the second half of the year, but so far signs look like turning around."
4. Hawaii to raise hotel tax to combat climate change's impact
Hawaii lawmakers are working on legislation to have its tourists help generate funds to support projects that help the state cope with a warming planet. The bill would increase the daily room tax of hotels, vacation rentals and other short-term accommodations by 0.75% starting Jan. 1, 2026, NPR reports.
According to the article, the increased tax would unlock $100 million in new revenue annually and is "all but certain to pass" because Democrats hold supermajorities in both the Hawaii House and Senate.
State leaders said the funding will be used for projects like replenishing sand on eroding beaches, installing hurricane clips on residential roofs and removing invasive grasses responsible for fueling recent wildfires.
"We had a $13 billion tragedy in Maui and we lost 102 people. These kind of dollars will help us prevent that next disaster," Gov. Josh Green said in an interview.
5. TripAdvisor reveals top global hotels
TripAdvisor released its annual Travellers’ Choice Awards, ranking the world's hotels with the highest volume of "above-and-beyond reviews."
"The Travelers’ Choice Awards Best of the Best title celebrates the highest level of excellence in travel," reads the website. "It’s awarded to those who receive a high volume of above-and-beyond reviews and opinions from the Tripadvisor community over a 12-month period. Out of our 8 million listings, fewer than 1% achieve this milestone."
Taking the top spot this year is the Secrets Akumal Riviera Maya in Akumal, Mexico, which has a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars based on 13,755 reviews.
On Tuesday, Tripadvisor Inc. closed its $430 million merger with Liberty TripAdvisor Holdings Inc., in a move that simplified capital structure and consolidated its ownership structure, according to Stock Titan.
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